The Apple iPhone X is a game changer, but is it worth a grand?

By Bill Roberson October 31, 2017

A definite treat

Happy Halloween, and we’re getting our first look at the shiny new Apple iPhone X, which we’ve managed to get ahold of a little bit ahead of its official debut this Friday. DT Mobile Tech editor and smartphone torture tester Julian Chokkattu has been getting more familiar with Apple’s latest halo product, and the first impressions are definitely positive.

The 5.8-inch OLED screen certainly impresses, but the little notch where the Face ID tech lives can distract a bit from the experience at times. And speaking of Face ID, it works most of the time. It’ll likely take us – and everyone else – a little while to get used to the quick “unlock glance” exercise, and it does seem to work as promised the majority of the time. And when it doesn’t, you can always just tap in your PIN to solve that first world problem.

Otherwise, photos look great, iOS 11 is snappy and fun to use, the AR toys are fun to play with and overall, we grudgingly admit the thing may actually be worth the $999 asking price, or the $1149 for the 256gb model. That is, if you can find one. Pre-orders sold out long ago with wait times now heading into December, so if you gotta have one this Friday, we suggest you maybe think about setting up camp outside an Apple Store… right about now.

Fix it in post – every time

360-degree cameras are the new kid in town in terms of photography, and a lot of photographers are still coming to grips on how to use them most effectively. We just talked with the team behind the innovative Rylo 360 camera, which is all about what you do with your footage AFTER you shoot all your video. Spec-wise the camera uses a pair of Sony cell-phone-type 4K video cameras to capture the scene, or it can snap 6K stills.

But once you’re done shooting video with the Rylo, that’s where the app – currently only for iOS users – takes over in a big way. Instead of a fiddly 360-degree thing you have to mouse around to enjoy, the Rylo cam app lets you pick and choose where in the “video ball” you want to “focus” as it were, and you can then export a “normal” video from there. Trust us, it’s pretty slick.

There’s also some sophisticated tracking and stabilization features built into the app that make a huge difference in upping the quality of your videos. The Rylo camera is $500 and if you’ve already got a nice collection of GoPro mounts, then you’re all set to shoot some very entertaining action videos.

Tub time is the best time

There aren’t many things in life better than soaking in the tub while reading a good book, but for techie folks who use e-books, there’s nothing worse than dropping your phone or e-reader into the bubbles while trying to turn the page. Problem solved, says world’s richest guy Jeff Bezos, who helped get the ebook craze going a decade ago with the first Amazon Kindle device, and has just debuted the Kindle Oasis, which is, thankfully, IPX8-rated waterproof.

That means you can dunk the Oasis into your swimming pool and forget about it for an hour and still be good to go, so your bubble bath isn’t going even be a challenge. The Oasis also features a super-crisp PaperWhite display and has memory options from 8 to 32 gigs, which will hold literally thousands of books. Prices range from $250 to $350 depending on options like memory, covers and connectivity.

We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.

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