Apps

The Spark amp from Positive Grid is paired with a voice-activated mobile app that opens the door to real-time practice and learning tools, and allows players to jam along to tracks from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

If you care about clothing styles in the first place, then it can be difficult, trying to determine if your outfit is fashionable. It would be great if your phone could tell you, and with the new Fashion++ app, it may soon be able to do just that.

Skoog Music is all about making music easy and fun. Five years ago the company launched a touchy-feely cube on Indiegogo that could be picked up and played in minutes. Now a new big-buttoned melody maker has been announced called the Skwitch.

The upcoming Wristruments app puts guitar tuition within reach, serves up a metronome, instructor, song library, and tuner on a smartwatch.

Loog Guitars has kicked off a crowdfunding campaign to fund three learning guitars for kids with a built-in amp and speaker.

The VertDesk v3 standing desk can be automatically raised using voice commands.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) app developed by researchers from Bioversity International allows banana​ farmers to identify and combat outbreaks of pests and diseases. Designed to be used with a smartphone, both on and offline, it's claimed to operate with an average success rate of 90 percent.

A new technology, called transdermal optical imaging, can turn your smartphone into a device that can measure your blood pressure by analyzing a short video of your face. The University of Toronto-led research has demonstrated the system is 95 percent accurate and an app is already in development.

​Ping pong is a two (or four) player game, but if you need to practice alone then a robot server can help. Cheap bots can be had, but more features means more cost. Joola says that its Infinity Smart Robot boasts advanced features for a fraction of the cost of high end robot trainers.​

Though portable Bluetooth speakers allow music lovers to share audio with those around them, headphones are mostly a private listening experience. With the launch of Augmented Audio, BG Audio gives users the choice to keep things private or share with others, either locally or remotely.

House plants can be a great way to add splashes of color to an otherwise drab interior, but they can also help to purify the air. But looking after them can be a guessing game. Lua is designed to help, turning plant care alerts into cute animated faces on the front of the pot.

​Most of us are guilty of hitting the snooze bar on our alarm clocks and going back to sleep, which is why we've seen devices that won't stop ringing until they're taken to a remotely-located docking station. EzLarm takes a cheaper and simpler approach, utilizing a free app and an inexpensive tag.