Zoom

You may have seen this video doing the rounds; it peers through the lens of a microscope at a smartphone chip and starts zooming in, giving you a visceral sense of just how insanely tiny today's transistors have become.

Before you hop on your next Zoom call, you might want to tailor your background in a very particular way, says a new study. Doing so could make everyone else on the call perceive you as being more competent – whether or not you really are.

With a few notable exceptions, most smartphone cameras zoom either digitally or via a few optical zoom presets. That could soon change, however, as LG Innotek has announced its new Optical Telephoto Zoom Camera Module.

Musicians can use computer-based music production platforms to record, mix and produce songs, but some prefer the more tactile experience afforded by dedicated hardware. That's what the R20 from Japan's Zoom Corporation provides.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, more people than ever before are currently stuck sitting at their computers, using services like Zoom and Skype. The just-announced Wave for Work smart ring, however, is made to help free them up.

Zoom has revealed a new app-driven portable audio recorder. Whether you're out in the field, capturing the latest groove at band practice or producing your latest podcast, the H8 is like an all you can eat buffet for audio recording.

For the last few years, the G5n has been Zoom's flagship multi-effects floor unit for guitarists, but not for much longer. After launching at the NAMM show in January, the new G11 has now gone up for pre-order.

Zoom has launched a new USB audio interface for guitarists called the GCE-3, and it's tiny. Designed to unobtrusively fit in a pocket or gig bag, the interface works with the company's amp emulation and effects simulation software so players can plug in and capture riff creations while on the move.

Chinese smartphone company Oppo has confirmed that it's working on "10X lossless zoom" technology that would give you a 15.9-159mm equivalent zoom capability on a handset to be released sometime this year. There's also wide-zone biometrics allowing the whole screen to be a fingerprint sensor.

Smartphone cameras are getting better all the time, so surely there's no longer a ​need to carry a separate pocket compact around with you, right? Sony believes there is, and has announced the Cyber-shot HX99 Travel Zoom to prove it – which is billed as the world's smallest travel high-zoom snapper.

The H3-VR Handy Recorder from Zoom is an all-in-one Ambisonic audio recording solution, so you won't need to buy a dedicated microphone setup, a separate audio recorder and a powerful laptop or computer for making the audio VR ready.​

Four years after launching the G5, Zoom has announced what the company claims is the "finest collection of guitar effects offered in one package." The G5n packs 78 effects, amp and cabinet emulators, together with factory patches created by a diverse line-up of guitarists and onboard rhythms.