Google's Lollipop problem

Has Android 5.0's 'unstable' rollout soured Lollipop?

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the arrival of Android 5.0 Lollipop: a revamped look, improved security features, lockscreen notifications, a guest user mode, better battery management, and so on. Yet the shine of Google’s newest mobile operating system has been more than a little tarnished by persistent problems with the rollout of the software - unforeseen delays, major bugs, bricked devices and user complaints have all been causing headaches for Google and the company’s Android engineers.

Intelligent Energy Upp Starter Kit

A portable hydrogen fuel cell for your mobile devices

The Upp is unlike any portable USB power bank we’ve seen before. Most have a battery, similar to the one in your smartphone or tablet, that’s charged from a wall socket. The Upp is a hydrogen fuel cell, which uses a technology that converts hydrogen into electricity.

This technology sounds futuristic and has been mooted as a more energy-efficient alternative to petrol engines and laptop batteries for years. But fuel cells have previously been bulky, so we were impressed that the Upp is small enough to fit in your bag. It’s still a beast compared to other power banks though (weighing 620g), and is comparable in shape and size to a large torch.

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 (10in)

A 10in Android tablet with a quirky design

Many tablets are designed to resemble the iPad, but the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 takes a different approach. Not to be confused with the 8in Yogas and those versions running Windows 8, this Android tablet has a cylinder on its bottom edge (in landscape mode) that houses a flip-out stand. This can be used to prop up the tablet at a slight angle for easier typing or at a 45- or 90-degree angle for watching videos.

Nero 2015 Platinum

Burn your files to disc or stream them to all your devices using this handy suite of programs

Nero’s disc-burning program has been around for ages and has now evolved into a suite packed with other media-related features. The latest 2015 Platinum release includes the core Nero Burning ROM software for burning DVDs, Blu-rays and other optical discs, as well as applications to manage, share and edit your video, audio and image files on your PC.

Amazon Fire TV

Tell this set-top box what you want to watch

There are plenty of devices for watching streaming video on your TV, from Blu-ray players and set-top boxes, to smart TVs themselves, but almost all of them get their interfaces wrong. They present you with a grid of icons, similar to the homescreen of a smartphone or tablet, and you then search for what you want to watch either by clicking on each icon and then scrolling through long, juddery lists that are slow to load or by typing search words using a fiddly on-screen keyboard via the remote.