LEAP MOTION CONTROLLER
£69.99
Remember that bit in Minority Report when Tom Cruise waves his hands around like a conductor to control a computer screen? That's now possible. The Leap Motion Controller is a tiny pad that sits in front of your keyboard, beaming out an infra-red field. When you wave your hands over it, it translates that to your computer screen. Admittedly, it takes a while to get used to, but once you've mastered it, its uses are endless.
VERDICT: LEAPS AHEAD
DOTS
Free. iOS, Android
Got a big presentation to write? Download this app and you will barely notice your deadline as it whizzes past. Dots is so simple and yet so addictive: the idea is to connect rows of dots on a grid to make them disappear. Your score is the number of dots you make vanish, either in 30 moves or within 60 seconds. Its minimal, clean design pre-empted the changes that Apple made in iOS7 - all circles and soft colours.
VERDICT: LEAP OF FAITH
OLYMPUS PEN EP-5
£999.99
MT can't help feeling that anyone buying a £1,000 camera will know a bit about photography, but for pros this ain't. Featuring 'art' settings such as Instagram-like filters and a screen that pulls out and tilts (to make shooting from above/below easier), it has more gimmicks than Simon Cowell's record label. It takes beautiful pictures with minimal effort and it looks gorgeous: 'Inspired by the PEN-F camera from 1963', it feels heavy, solid, expensive.
VERDICT: LEAP OF FAITH
MYND
Free. iOS
Either creepy or clever, depending on how you look at it, Mynd 'manages' your calendar by 'learning' from your behaviour, using information like your work location to remind you what time you need to leave the office to get to appointments. You can also call or text people you're meeting from within the app. Cool, although not as useful to those living in cities: its journey time option only takes driving into account. One to keep an eye on.
