Never before have we relied on technology like we do today. It’s how we are staying connected as we navigate the extraordinary challenges faced around the world. Technology can make life easier, and more complex, which is why Samsung continues to create powerful new devices to help people maximise work and play. Now, the global brand is about to launch the follow-up to one of its top technological achievements.

Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy Fold, which represented a leap forward in mobile technology since the first smartphones arrived a decade ago. Samsung continues to pioneer this category of mobile devices by introducing the next generation of foldables — the Galaxy Z Fold2.

After releasing two foldable devices and listening to user feedback on the most requested upgrades and new features, Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold2, featuring meaningful innovations that offer users enhanced refinements and foldable experiences.

The Galaxy Z Fold2 combines the portability and flexibility of a smartphone with the power and screen size of a tablet, for ultimate productivity. The device comes packed with two edge-to-edge, nearly bezel-less Infinity-O Displays.

Open the Galaxy Z Fold2 to reveal the Main Screen, a 7.6-inch tablet-like display, made with Samsung Ultra-Thin Glass for smooth flexibility. The Cover Screen is 6.2-inches, making both screens larger than the Galaxy Z Fold. When folded, Galaxy Z Fold2 is a cutting-edge smartphone with a 6.2-inch screen, delivering one-handed comfort.

With its sleek design and refined engineering, the Galaxy Z Fold2 comes in two equally stunning colours: Mystic Black and Mystic Bronze.

For more information, visit samsung.com/za.

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Enjoy the sounds you’ve collected on your phone or tablet everywhere – from the bath to the beach and beyond – with the Australian designed Sunnylife portable radio-cum-speaker available in a range of retro shades and vintage styles.

Sporting a tuner, volume knob, bass control and power button on the front and a convenient handle on top for portability, simply flip open the water resistant unit and you’ll find a 3,5mm jack to hook up your device of choice.

Get your battery operated Sunnylife Beach Radio right here in SA from Antiquation.co.za or Superbalist.com. Prices range from R455 to R699 depending on the model.

We have two Sunnylife Beach Radios to give away! Click here to enter.

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We all know that our smartphones are incredibly powerful computers with pretty impressive cameras, but how many of us actually use them to their max? With our current #shelfie competition, we thought we’d share 10 tips to take better phone pics. 

Many of us don’t realise the full potential of our Instagram accounts, beyond ubiquitous selfie-taking and occasionally documenting the food on our plates. But there’s an entire community out there that takes their Instalives seriously. They’re international, with branches in cities all over the world; they have Instameets and keep large followings in the tens to hundreds of thousands. They call themselves Instagramers or Igers. Gareth Pon, the founder of the local branch of the Igers community, is one of the most followed South Africans on Instagram with over a 150k followers!

Recently he gave a talk at the Epson Develop Yourself photography and printing event, and he offered these 10 tips on how to use your smartphone to capture the kind of pics that could not only bring out the Iger in you, but also be perfectly print-worthy.

• A real Iger doesn’t hang and wait for the moments, they create them. So Gareth says: “When you’re in the mood for photos, go wherever your heart fancies! Your smartphone and its camera can go wherever you do.”
• Light is your friend – and is your best friend when you use it to highlight particular elements of your image.
• Most cameras have a zoom function, but don’t use it unless you absolutely have to. Rather move closer to your subject, if you can.
• Shoot before you think. Sometimes spending too much time on composing the perfect shot will mean that you lose it.
• Wear good, comfortable shoes. This is true of photography and many other hobbies!
• Keep looking, but know what you’re looking for. Don’t be so focused on capturing the image that you’ve set out for, that you miss other wonderful opportunities along the way.
• Keep stable, if you possibly can. Otherwise use any motion blur to good effect in your image.
• Avoid using the flash. While cameras in phones are fantastic, their flashes often aren’t.
• Shoot lots of images – it doesn’t cost you anything!
• Change your perspective: lie on the floor, stand on a table, jump on a merry-go-round – there is so much more to the world than what you see at eye level.

Keep in mind that even if you’re not on Instagram, Gareth’s tips apply to any sort of smartphone photography, whether it’s just for your own private folders, other social media or simply to print out on one of Epson’s versatile colour printers. Their impressive technology can print up to 1 800 postcard-sized pics using just one ink tank, at a cost of 60 cents per photo. That just might make us go retro and start keeping physical photo albums again.

Snap a selfie of your bookshelf – a shelfie – and enter our competition now.

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Browse the pictures above and use the links below for more information.

Carlex Design, www.carlex.pl

Laikingland, www.laikingland.co.uk

Roche Bobois, www.roche-bobois.com

Thomas Heatherwick, www.heatherwick.com

ThinkOrange, www.thinkorange.pt

Katie Thompson’s Recreate, www.recreate.za.net

Xavier Clarisse, clarissedesign.com

Christopher Jenner, www.christopher-jenner.com

Szymon Klimek, www.byk01051953.user.icpnet.pl

Richard Clarkson, richardclarkson.com

More from the SPRING FLING edition of VISI

• New and second-cycle
  Renovation and interior design is seldom a stagnant, once-off affair. The best spaces grow into themselves. See the before pictures of the houses featured in the magazine.

• Deft blue strokes
  Fabric, surfboards, shacks… Something is afoot, and not just in South Africa! From Babylonstoren to Russia, browse our full Delft trend report.

• Popcorn architecture
  We have inspiration from the Architecture ZA 2012 Biennial Festival to share. Watch our online film festival and read our report back.

• Mechanical futurism
  Some say steampunk is what happened when Goths discovered brown. Others say it grew out of a literary genre.

• Joburg Art Attack
  For at least one week in September, Joburg was hit by an art attack. Read the post-mortem and our guide to starting an art collection, written by the experts.

• Winning wishes
  In October, Warren Lewis will be giving away four paintings. Up for grabs over October and November is a Bodum Bistro Coffee Maker from Banks Kitchen Boutique. Enter the competitions here.

The post Top 10 steampunk designs appeared first on Visi.

Dubbed one of the, if not the, best Microsoft Windows 7.5 smartphones on the market. The Lumia 800, with its sassy seamless body and competitive pricing, is Nokia’s comeback kid that will connect its users with a swish of the finger.

With Apple-esque speed, the usability will have rookies to the new breed of Nokia instantly hooked. While offering all the extras expected of a smartphone; an 8 mega-pixel camera, Internet Explorer, WiFi and HTML5, the Lumia 800 has a few new tricks too. Nokia Drive is the first free sat nav service to come bundled on any Windows Phone device, and while basic, it does get you from A to B. Nokia Music is another little gem, with dedicated radio stations offering the latest tracks packaged up in genres you’ll enjoy.

And it’s tough too. The polycarbonate chassis is difficult to shatter, while keeping a lightweight of only 142g. Coloured the whole way through, a bright cover is not a prerequisite, as the phones already beam on their own.

 Are you ready to give up your iPhone or Blackberry and give the new Nokia a go? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comment box below.

More information: http://www.nokia.com/za-en/

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