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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Just in case
Ever since domestic 3D printing became a thing, people have been making one-off objects to ease minor annoyances – a replacement part for a broken toy, perhaps, or a dedicated holder for a kitchen utensil. But when Ed Jelley – whose professional background is in watches and stationery – shared his printed creation on Instagram, he unwittingly became a standard bearer for digital detox.
The Miniphone Ultra, or “mpu”, is essentially just a case for the Apple Watch Ultra (versions 1, 2 or 3) that turns it into a miniature, minimalist smartphone. “There’s a guy I’ve been talking to who bought [an mpu] a while back,” says Jelley. “He told me that he’s had his phone shut away in his desk for two weeks. Nowadays, that’s kind of wild.”
Miniphone Ultra
Price: £29
BUY
The product poses questions about screen addiction at a time when many of us are trying to scale back our doomscrolling habits. While Apple and Android have “wellness” features built into their operating systems, carrying a smaller screen that’s less enticing and more fiddly to interact with is a far more effective form of stimulus control. And having it mounted in a case rather than worn on your wrist keeps it out of your eyeline.
Of course, there’s some irony in building a case for a highly engineered compact gadget that effectively doubles its size, but Jelley has sparked something here. His Instagram posts featuring the case have attracted more than two million views and a surge of online orders. It comes fully assembled: just unscrew the six hex bolts, pop in the watch, screw them back and attach an included lanyard if you wish.
Not wearing the watch will evidently ruin health metrics, but a cellular Ultra will give you calls, messages, maps, email, music and podcasts while scaling back the distractions that waste so many hours. “I remember a time before smartphones,” says Jelley, “and I think there’s a nostalgia factor in getting back to a less connected life.”
Out of the box
At Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1952, AI pioneer Marvin Minsky came up with the idea of “the ultimate machine” consisting of a box with a single switch. When you turn it on, a hand reaches out and it turns itself off. Mildly addictive and strangely profound, versions of the machine became a popular executive toy in the 1960s. Now engineer and entrepreneur Olivier Mével has reinvented it. His version still has a single switch, and opens up and turns itself off, but it does so with great panache and personality; on each interaction it might be tentative, bolshy, meek, irritable – with all its moods elegantly conveyed by a small plastic arm and accompanying noises.
Shot caller
Wacaco Pixapresso
Price: £149.90
BUY
Not a teeny-tiny piece of tech, but incredibly compact for an espresso machine – comparable in size to an Aeropress and, crucially, it does not require a kettle. The Wacaco Pixapresso can handle ground coffee or Nespresso Original caps; for the former, just pack the coffee into the outlet head (it can take 8g for a single or 16g for a double shot), fill its small graduated tank with the correct amount of water (35ml for a ristretto, or up to 120ml for a lungo), sit it over the cup and turn it on. The temperature ticks up on a digital display until it reaches the optimum extraction moment. Once the theatre is over, all the components pack away neatly. Rechargeable via a USB-C port, it’s a must-pack for espresso addicts.
Snap to it
Insta360 Go Ultra Creator Bundle
Price: £429
BUY
The Go Ultra camera looks pretty similar to Insta360’s Ace Pro 2 that we featured just over a year ago. The magic, however, lies in the tiny (4cm square), fully featured camera module that separates from the main body at the push of a button. At that point, your action cam (and the Insta360 ecosystem of associated mounts) becomes a vlogging or lifestyle cam, attachable to a pendant (supplied) around your neck, hat clip (also supplied) or indeed any other magnetic surface, and activated with a button. Simple life-logging may be all you need, but the device is incredibly feature-rich and flexible; Air Photography does an excellent tutorial on YouTube that’s more easily followed than the supplied user guide.
Play mate
Miyoo Mini Flip console
Price: £45
BUY
This minuscule clamshell gaming console is easily pocketable, just 66mm square by 25mm deep. It folds out to reveal a 2.8in screen and standard D-pad and ABXY controls, with four additional L and R buttons on the underside. You may see gripes online about the hinge, but this newest version feels very sturdy. It comes with a 64GB MicroSD card containing thousands of popular retro gaming titles organised into folders, but if you’re familiar with the arcane world of emulation it’s perfectly possible to install your own choice of games and operating system: eg, Onion OS. Headphones can be plugged into the USB-C port (definitely more sonically pleasing), and there’s Wi-Fi connectivity for two-player action.
@rhodri