Spirit One is Focal’s first venture into the mobile headphones market, and it is a headset that comes in a luxurious package and includes a beautiful zip-up pouch for storing and protecting the product. These are closed-back type headphones with an in-line remote controller and microphone that’s compatible with music and telephone services on iOS devices and smartphones. The anti-winding cable is completely detachable. Focal has used very high quality materials in the construction of these Spirit One headphones, and they are lightweight and comfortable to wear. The pads are very soft, and do a good job of insulating against external environmental noise. Sound quality is excellent, with a great emphasis on high frequencies but with plenty of bass when your music demands it.

This smartphone has a body shell moulded from a single piece of aluminium, treated using ‘micro arc oxidation’ for a black finish that is smooth to the touch. This process, in which the metal is hit with 10,000 volts, also this makes the 7.87mm device durable and stronger than had it been made with regular aluminium. The AMOLED 4.3in (10.1 cm) display has a 540x960-pixel-resolution and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The phone’s power is delivered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and its 8-million-pixel camera has an LED flash. The One S records movies at 1080/30p and its sound section is run using the “Beats Audio” equaliser. The front-end of this Android 4.0.3 smartphone is based on the HTC Sense’s graphic user interface, with special social media widgets and applications.

At first glance you might think that the JVC KW-NSX1 is a great, modern double-DIN In-Car head unit. You would be right. The aspects that will probably catch your eye include its 6.1” touch-screen that acts as a display for RDS radio, CD or USB music, DVD or DiVX video, Bluetooth connections and iPhone/iPod App Link interface. However, by far the most important feature of this unit is Mirror Link: as one of the first models to use this new industry standard, it also connects to certain compatible Android or Symbian smartphones, making selected content and Apps easily available and controllable on its large touch-screen. The LCD of the head unit will display a mirror copy of your smartphone screen, so you can have access and full control of your phone apps with a larger, easier to operate and familiar graphical user interface when you are in your car. And is charges your phone at the same time. The JVC KW-NSX1, with Mirror Link, is a great solution for getting the most out of your smartphone in the car.

Many years of research and development have gone in to creating Nokia’s PureView Pro imaging technology. The idea was to make a digital zoom system for mobile phones that is capable of producing high image quality even when the picture was cropped. The first smartphone to feature this technology is the Nokia 808 PureView, with Carl Zeiss optics, xenon flash and LED video light. It uses a high-resolution 7728x5368-pixel-sensor that can produce images containing up to 38 or 32 million pixels (depending on the aspect ratio) when the zoom is not in use. When the zoom is used the phone crops the active part of the sensor to a progressively smaller area. Nokia’s PureView Pro technology is a major leap forward in mobile devices and brings high-quality photo features to the masses.

As the Fidelio A9 system is equipped with Wi-Fi it can be connected to your whole music collection whether it is stored on your computer, an external hard drive, a networked NAS drive, media server or in the ‘cloud’. The ‘AirStudio’ smartphone app detects all the connected music sources in your home, including internet radio. Simply dragging your finger across the screen connects that device with the Fidelio A9, making your smartphone the principle music controller of the whole house. The system comprises two speakers; one passive and the other with the amplifier and networking hardware built-in, which connect to each other with the supplied cable. This handsome bookshelf set offers tremendous value for money and is bass-reflex loaded through rear ports, for deep and extended low frequencies.

Just saying “Hi Galaxy” is enough to start a virtual conversation with the Galaxy S III, using its S-Voice feature. The flagship of Samsung’s Galaxy line-up introduces a vast number of new technologies to the Android environment. Voice and gesture controls include a Smart Stay feature, that tracks eye-movement and keeps the display awake while you’re looking at it, and a Direct Call function that automatically makes a call when you lift the phone to your ear. The Galaxy S III is equipped with a powerful quad-core processor running at 1.4GHz, the display is a 4.8in (12.2 cm) HD Super AMOLED with 1280x720-pixel resolution and the 8-million-pixel camera can record video in 1080/30p. The Galaxy S III is a clear EISA winner.