The Arrow Smart-Kart is a joy rider that parents can control

If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, you might have been lucky enough to own a Power Wheels car. Even if you didn’t, anyone who watched TV knew the jingle. (You’re probably humming it right now.) But Power Wheels are slow and not very intelligent. The Arrow Smart-Kart from Actev Motors, available today, tackles some of those shortcomings. It’s faster, WiFi-connected and has the expertise of Nest co-founder Tony Fadell behind it. But, even though Fadell has been talking about building a car for a while now, the Arrow is aimed squarely at kids and their parents. Kids will appreciate the thrill of driving their own mini electric car, while adults will relish the control the Arrow app gives them. Parents can set limits on the kart at the tap of a screen, making desperate screams at their offspring to “slow down!” no longer necessary.

At first glance, the Arrow looks like a standard go-kart, with four wheels, a low profile and controls that include a steering column and gas/brake pedals. It’s pretty close to a real driving experience, and it’s all powered by a Lithium-Ion battery that can be recharged from a wall outlet. This makes it a lot safer than standard gas-powered go-karts, and easier than even Power Wheels. As a child I remember seeing plenty of dead vehicles sitting in my neighbors’ backyards, gathering leaves from disuse.

Of course, part of the fun of having a go-kart is tailoring it to your own sense of style, which is why Actev sells body kits. You can trick out the vehicle to look like a Formula racer, with other vehicle styles planned down the line (but none announced at this time). The wheels and steering are designed to be customizable too. Right now the one accoutrement you can add is a pair of drift rings over the rear tires, which will reduce friction and allow children to imitate drifting techniques from movies like The Fast and the Furious.

I didn’t get to see any drifting in action, but I did get to watch one of the Arrow karts zip around an indoor studio. The young driver at the demo took a few laps around a large room and down an empty hall under the watchful eye of Actev Motors co-founder Dave Bell, who was able to control the vehicle’s speed and gear from his phone.

Power Wheels tops out at five miles per hour — just slow enough for an adult to keep pace as they supervise a little kid. But it’s frustrating for older children, which is why the Arrow Smart-Kart can do up to 12 miles per hour. However, that makes it pretty easy to outpace a parent walking or jogging. With the Arrow app, however, a parent doesn’t have to leave the porch to make sure their kid doesn’t take it too far. The app connects to the kart via WiFi and allows an adult to limit the speed, gear and even distance.

If a driver takes the Arrow out of range, it starts to slow down, forcing the child to turn the car around and bring it back within the virtual fence if they want to get back up to full speed. And, if the kid starts to get a little rough with the Arrow and steers it toward a fence or mailbox, the kart is equipped with collision avoidance tech. It’s not perfect — the kart I saw was a bit dinged up from a mishap involving a pillar — but it’s lot more protection than, say, a bike would offer. However, the company still recommends kids wear a helmet while operating the kart.

Though the Arrow Smart-Kart is best suited for kids ages five through eight, that doesn’t mean older children or even adults can’t cram into the seat. Which I did, though not easily. It required a bit of contortion to get my legs under the steering wheel, but once seated I was mostly fine. Mostly.

A top speed of 12 miles per hour doesn’t sound like a lot, but it feels swift when you’re actually riding the thing, because it accelerates quickly. As I’ve previously admitted, I don’t actually know how to drive, so I was a bit cautious at first, hitting the gas for short bursts. The steering wheel requires some effort to turn, which is good because it means your kid can’t accidentally go off-course; they have to make a very deliberate decision to go left or right. In my case, I found I didn’t turn quickly enough inside the studio, which left me having to back up to course correct often. While gear changes can be made through the app, reverse can also be enabled by double tapping the brake while fully stopped.

It was fun to ride around in the Arrow, although my adult-length legs were less thrilled. (I later had a hard time getting out of the vehicle as well.) It’s probably best to leave this to the kids. But, with a single kart costing $1,000 on Actev Motors’ website, you’re still going to need adult funds to handle the payment. That’s way more than Power Wheels or even the mini Tesla S will run you, but neither of those choices is as speedy or smart. The only thing the Arrow Smart-Kart needs now is a catchy jingle.

Professional Mac Users’ Complaints List Grows After ‘Disappointing’ Apple Event

Less than a week ago Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pro line-up, with the focus of its “Hello again” event centering on the OLED Touch Bar that replaces the function keys on the company’s 13-inch and 15-inch flagship models.

Initial media reaction to Apple’s event was positive, and most journalists in attendance were impressed after their limited hands-on time with the new machines. “There’s all kinds of love for the new MacBook Pro,” reported The Loop the following morning, in a post citing quotes from several leading tech sites.

Over the weekend, however, evidence mounted of a backlash within sections of the online Mac community in response to Apple’s latest announcements. In a blog post on his site titled “New MacBook Pros and the State of the Mac”, developer Michael Tsai collated and linked to the most commonly aired grievances. The post has since become a common point of reference in the blogosphere for negative sentiment toward Apple following last week’s event.

In his original post, Tsai said he was “disappointed” with Apple’s announcements for the Mac, which made him feel as if Cupertino had either “lost touch” with what developers and creative professionals want, or Apple “simply doesn’t care about those customers”.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with what Apple announced. I like Thunderbolt 3. The display looks good. I’m not crazy about Touch Bar, but it does seem potentially useful. The problem is that the MacBook Pro is not a true Pro notebook.

My Retina MacBook Pro is almost 4.5 years old. I’ve been wanting to upgrade it for a while and was planning to do so today. After seeing what was announced, I’m no longer sure that I want a MacBook Pro as my main computer.

The subsequent catalog of grievances largely mirror Tsai’s own complaints, which include the “premium price” of a “Pro” MacBook limited to 16GB RAM, the prioritization of “thinness and lightness” over CPU and graphics performance, and Apple’s “neglect” of other sections of its Mac product line. Tsai concludes: “It has seemed clear for a while that the CEO doesn’t really understand the Mac, or simply doesn’t like it that much, and that’s a problem for those of us who do.”

On Monday, both The Loop and Daring Fireball highlighted Tsai’s post, noting its growing inventory of criticisms. The Loop said the list contained “a lot of fair complaints” that are “insights… worth paying attention to”. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber called the extent of the backlash “astounding” and described Tsai’s collection of quotes as “must-read stuff”.

In another widely shared article titled “How Apple could have avoided much of the controversy”, developer Chuq Von Rospach wrote that while much of the criticism ignores “a lot of the positives” in Apple’s latest announcements, the company should have at least mentioned upcoming updates to the rest of its product line, which would “have muted a lot of the anger”.

Von Rospach goes on to speculate about what those updates might be, broaches some of the issues regarding Apple’s new notebooks (the 16GB RAM ceiling, an increase in dongles) and concludes by suggesting that creative professionals need to realize the Mac line has become a “niche product” in a world driven by market forces where Apple technology has gone mainstream. The full article can be read here.

The impassioned online debate comes at an important time for Apple, which hopes to boost interest in a lukewarm computer market this holiday season, following the company’s first reported full-year revenue decline since 2001. Its Touch Bar enabled 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks are expected to ship in late November. Meanwhile, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar is already shipping to customers and more comprehensive reviews of Apple’s lower-spec notebook are expected this week.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: loopinsight.com, John Gruber
Buyer’s Guide: Retina MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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Apple Said to be Considering Augmented Reality for Car Driving System

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining why he believes Apple has shifted its focus from its original rumored car project in favor of augmented reality technology.

According to Kuo, reports that Apple has turned its attention to developing a software-based autonomous driving system “make sense”, given that the system will support augmented reality and provide an “innovative user experience”.

All of Apple’s past successes were related to human-machine interfaces, such as mouse for Mac, click wheel for iPod, and multi-touch for iPhone and iPad.

Assuming Apple successfully develops AR, we predict the firm will enjoy the following competitive advantages: (1) redefining existing key products and leading competitors by three to five years. For instance, this could happen for iPhone, iPad and Mac; (2) eliminating obstacles of Apple Watch and Apple TV by offering an innovative user experience; and (3) entering new business fields, such as autonomous driving system.

We expect Apple to generate preliminary results for AR in the next 1-2 years at the earliest and working with iPhone may be the first step.

Kuo thinks the AR market will increase significantly in 2018 and will replace VR to become the mainstream market focus as Apple enters the field. Kuo predicts the AR and VR markets combined will grow from $40-50 billion in 2018 to $150 billion in 2020, with the majority increase coming from AR.

Apple’s increased interest in augmented reality is no secret. CEO Tim Cook has spoken about AR on a number of occasions over recent months, hinting that the company’s approach to AR should encourage, not replace, human contact.

In July, Cook said Apple was “high on AR in the long run” and that the company continues “to invest a lot in [AR].” He said he believes augmented reality “can be huge,” and in August, he called it a “core technology”, while in September Cook said he believes that between VR and AR, the latter “is the larger of the two,” because it allows people to “be very present,” engaging with one another while having other visual things to see.

According to rumors, Apple has a research team working on augmented and virtual reality, exploring the AR/VR field and investigating how the company could embrace augmented or virtual reality in the future. Apple has reportedly built prototype virtual reality headsets, but Cook’s continued comments on augmented reality indicate Apple is more heavily invested in that technology.

Related Roundup: Apple VR Project
Tag: Ming-Chi Kuo
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Motorola Moto M may not have such a huge battery after all

Images purporting to be the Motorola Moto M leaked last week, the company’s new mid-range handset. The alleged specs list for the Moto M was impressive too, as it included a 5100mAh battery. That might not be the case though, as Steve Hemmerstoffer of Nowhereelse.fr has tweeted some more pictures of the phone and claims it will only have a 3050mAh battery.

Pocket Now, which picked up the leak by Hemmerstoffer, believes the original leak of a phone with a 5100mAh battery is actually the Lenovo P2. All other specs for the two phones are very similar and since Lenovo makes Motorola phones, it’s easy to see how the two could have crossed paths.

The majority of other specs for the Moto M listed by Hemmerstoffer are basically the same, expect for the MediaTek chipset version, believed to be destined for China, will instead come with a slightly quicker P15 chip instead of the P10.

The version that should be making its way to Europe will instead come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with either 3GB or 4GB RAM. Both will come with a 5.5-inch full HD display, 32GB of storage and either a 13-megapixel or 16MP camera.

Motorola is holding a product launch event on 8 November in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, which should finally reveal all the details of both the Moto M and Lenovo P2.

Dyson Supersonic hair dryer review: Is it all just hot air?

A hair dryer is just a hairdryer isn’t it? Not when it’s a Dyson Supersonic hair dryer it’s not. Well, that’s the claim. We’ve been using with the new hair dryer to see whether it really is worth its £300 asking price.

Dyson Supersonic hair dryer review: An innovative design

Unlike any hair dryer you’ve seen before, Dyson has ditched traditional design and created a hair dryer than works in a similar way to the company’s bladeless fan range.

The motor, which can run at speeds up to 110,000rpm, is found in the handle. This not only rebalances the weight and shape of the hair dryer, but creates a cleaner looking design overall.

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Like the bladeless fan range, air is sucked in through the bottom of the handle, before being pushed out through a circular hole at the top, increasing the volume of air in the process.

There are three magnetic attachments to help further direct the flow of air: a wide beam, a narrow beam, and a diffuser. These attachments are made of plastic, but double skinned so they don’t get too hot during use.

The diffuser disperses air evenly around your curls, helping to reduce frizz and improve definition; the Styling concentrator lets you shape your hair one section at a time without worrying about disturbing the rest; while the smoothing nozzle looks to dry hair gently using a wide air stream.

On the back of the hair dryer are heating and fan power buttons all within a thumb’s reach for easy control.

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Coming in two colours – grey and pink, or white and grey – the Supersonic is typically Dyson in its design and approach. This is a device that will look stylish on your dressing table.

An incredibly long power cable also means you’ve got plenty of freedom of movement regardless of where your plug socket happens to be.

Dyson Supersonic hair dryer review: Drying your hair performance

Design and claims are one thing, but if a hair dryer doesn’t dry your hair properly then it’s about as as useful as a chocolate teapot. That’s not an issue for the Dyson Supersonic though. This hair dryer works – and very well indeed.

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We’ve tried it on a number of different hair types – from long to short, to straight to frizzy – and although we aren’t usually in the business of testing hair dryers on a weekly basis, we are impressed by the results.

Drying times certainly feel quicker – almost twice the speed compared to what we typically use – and the Supersonic sounds quieter than your average £20 hair dryer, too.

The Supersonic hair dryer’s heat and power settings can be adjusted quickly between three speed settings – fast drying, regular drying and styling – with four heat settings. There’s 100°C fast drying and styling; 80°C regular drying; 60°C gentle drying; and 28°C constant cold to give you plenty of options.

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Then there’s some more Dyson smarts on board. A microprocessor measures and regulates air temperature 30 times every second, keeping the temperature under control without fluctuation, which helps prevent heat damage to protect your natural shine. The hair we’ve dried looks silkier and shinier to boot.

First Impressions

The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer is everything you would expect from a hair dryer if the brief in creating one was limitless. It looks great, dries your hair in double-quick time, and has the design ethos of a Mercedes and BMW combined.

This is top-of-its-game stuff. But the caveat – and there’s always a caveat – is that it completely disregards any notion of being affordable for what it is. At £300, this is the most expensive hair dryer on the market. Sure, it’s an amazing bit of kit, but it simply won’t be a justifiable purchase for many.