Lexus ROV Concept

£N/A (concept) / lexus.co.uk

At least it’s not a hoverboard. Lexus has come up with some wild luxury concepts over the years – including motor yachts and, yes, hoverboards. But the ROV Concept is an altogether different thing. It’s a recreational off-highway vehicle powered by a hydrogen engine and is destined for dirt tracks, which is not where you’d expect to see the average Lexus owner. And while this is a concept, these images are convincing enough to make us think it could easily become a production reality.

So it can attack muddy trails? Oh yes, it packs in all the rugged features you’d expect for an off-roader, with a full rollcage, beefy exposed suspension and bulbous treaded tyres that can take on any kind of loose surface. At the same time, this little Lexus is dinky enough to throw around at just 3.1m long and 1.8m high.

Doesn’t sound very ‘Lexus luxury’. The spartan but stylish interior has been designed using Lexus’s ‘Tazuna’ concept, which we’re assured is all about craftsmanship and build quality. Even though that interior is likely to get very wet and muddy, the seats have been made from leather – albeit of the synthetic variety, to ensure they won’t rot away in six months.

How green is it? If you can actually get hold of a tankful of hydrogen, the Lexus ROV Concept promises to be very green indeed. In fact, as long as you overlook the way it churns up the ground with those gnarly tyres, this near-zero-emissions machine should have a low, low carbon footprint. And as a bonus, rather than delivering power in an on/off go-kart fashion, paddle levers in front of the steering wheel suggest some manual intervention is possible too.

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I’M NORTON LOVE

Iconic British bike maker Norton is back with the V4CR cafe racer. Now Indian-owned, the company has a new factory in Solihull and this two-wheeler draws much from the 185bhp V4SV superbike… including its 1200cc engine. Other highlights include keyless ignition and a 6in TFT dash.

YOU GIVE LOVE A RAD NAME

Radical Sportscars has somehow made its SR3 XX and SR10 track cars even faster. Both get structural and suspension tweaks, while the SR10 also gains new brakes and an engine remap that brings you a gear-limited top speed of 180mph and 0-60mph in just 2.4 seconds.

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FLARE AUDIO E-PROTOTYPE

If you’re going to pump audio into your brain and make it sound good, your ultimate enemy might just be the inside of the human ear, which is a fleshy bathtub of messy resonances. While Flare Audio’s E-Prototype buds look like something that was 3D-printed in somebody’s garage (or the company’s HQ down in Sussex), they use a new tech called Universal Sound Quality (USQ) that changes the way sound is reflected and minimises the distortion created by the weird shape of your lugs. Flare reckons that means they can pick out details that even the artists in the studio when the tunes were recorded didn’t hear. Now all we need is a wireless version… £250 / flareaudio.com

The warmth of the son

HIVE THERMOSTAT MINI

Unless your thermostat is the size of the jumbotron at an American sports stadium, you probably don’t spend a huge amount of time sitting around worrying about how big it is… but you might have baulked at the price of a smart one. Hive’s new Thermostat Mini has all the same skills as the company’s chunkier stat – app control with geolocation for turning off the heating when it knows you’re not in, flexible scheduling, built-in frost protection to stop your pipes freezing in winter, Alexa, HomeKit and Google Assistant compatibility, and support for other Hive devices – but in a cheaper, more streamlined package. If only they could do the same for your post-Christmas waistline. £119 / hivehome.com

WTF IS OPPO AIR GLASS?

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So it’s a smart monocle? Kind of, although in order to get the Air Glass to stick to your face you will need to attach it magnetically to a pair of Oppo’s frames: a lens-less silver design or a black set that can accommodate prescription lenses. It’s not compatible with your existing specs. The main body weighs just 30g and houses a Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, battery, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, plus a speaker, dual microphones and a tiny Micro LED projector that’s only about the size of a coffee bean but can still deliver up to 1400 nits in average brightness.

Will it work with any phone? No, you’ll need an Oppo phone running ColorOS 11 or later (or an Oppo Watch 2) to use it, but you do get a range of options when it comes to control. There’s a touch panel on the main chassis, the onboard microphones mean it’ll respond to voice commands, or you can nod and shake your head to open and close notifications. If you’re also wearing an Oppo Watch 2, it can even respond to hand movements. You’ll need to be in mainland China to buy one when it first goes on sale, but fingers (and eyes) crossed that Air Glass gets a wider release eventually.

NEWS FEED

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BBC STREAMS TO SONOS

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TADO GETS REAL (TIME)

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APPLE MUSIC HAS A SIRI TURN

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Blower blower

RAZER PHONE COOLER CHROMA

During all five days of the great British summer, when the mercury can often soar as high as 24 degrees, Brits will try everything to keep cool… but strapping a fan to your back does seem a little extreme. If you’ve got a smartphone that’s running a bit hot during a particularly intense gaming session, however, your phone won’t be so fussy. So Razer’s quiet and colourful Phone Cooler Chroma will attach to it like a limpet, using either MagSafe or a universal clamp, and pump cool air at its overheating battery using a seven-blade 6400rpm fan. You have to power it via USB-C, but it’s probably best not to use your phone’s port for that – it’s already working hard enough. £60 / razer.com

Sound sound

POLK AUDIO SIGNA S4

The most memorable film-watching moments are usually at the cinema. Is it the outrageously expensive popcorn? The plush velvet chairs? The staccato sounds of slurping nearly-empty cups of slush? Or the fact that everything just looks and sounds better? Polk Audio’s Signa S4 doesn’t dispense food or drink but its seven drivers, Dolby Atmos compatibility and separate wireless subwoofer should still bring a taste of the cinema to your living room. There’s also a night mode that accentuates voices when the volume is turned down, so you don’t wake the sleeping baby or miss out on any crucial elements of the plot. Now, time to go shopping for some of those velvety chairs. £329 / polkaudio.com