Slope Tablet Stand for iPad, Nexus 7-10 And Kindle+

If you are in the market for a new tablet stand you might be interested in a new design which had started its journey from concept to production over on the Kickstarter website.  The Slope tablet stand is minimalistic aluminium design and is the brainchild of Erik Kittlaus + Dekke.

“It’s attractive, it’s minimal, it’s got a small footprint and it’s made of the most desirable materials available. It anchors firmly to the desk while getting your tablet upright and out in front of you at just the right angle and height. And given it’s materials, it feels like a million bucks.”
The Slope tablet stand project is currently over on the Kickstarter website looking to raise enough pledges to make the jump from concept to production. So if you think Slope tablet stand is something you could benefit from, visit the Kickstarter website now to make a pledge and help Slope tablet stand become a reality.

Labs brief: Coolermaster Recon

Coolermaster has been releasing some impressive peripherals under its CM Storm sub brand, the latest of which is the ambidextrous Recon mouse.
It is a fairly simple and unassuming design, with two thumb buttons on each side, big left and right buttons surrounding a nice, chunky scrollwheel and DPI adjustment arrows. It has the usual coloured lighting, which by default changes with changes in DPI. These buttons can all be rebound, the DPI settings changed and even the lighting can be customised in the software.
While the Recon doesn’t outdo more expensive mice, it is a truly excellent offering for the price point. Not only is it slick and responsive, but the buttons are all satisfyingly clicky and the ergonomics surprisingly good for a small mouse. A great budget offering.

Fourth-gen iPad available now through Telstra, Optus and Vodafone

Telstra, Optus and Vodafone have each announced that the fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular will be available on contract plans from today. Telstra and Vodafone are offering 24-month contracts only, while Optus has both 12- and 24-month options available.
Who’s offering the best deals? Vodafone’s plans include the most data at each price point, but this is countered by the fact that it doesn’t have a 4G network up and running yet.
For all around value, Optus is your best pick. The data inclusions are slightly less than Vodafone’s (but more than Telstra’s) once you go past the entry-level plan, but at least you can hop on Optus’ 4G network straight away – provided you’re in a 4G coverage area to begin with.
If you want to spend the least amount of money possible, Vodafone has the cheapest plan. For $47 a month, you’ll get the 16GB iPad 4G and 2GB of data. Spend a dollar extra and you can get the same but on Optus’ network (on a 24-month contract). $49 on Telstra’s network will get you only half the data.
The sweet spot is in the mid-range plans. For the 16GB model, Vodafone’s 12GB plan costs $63 a month, Optus’ 10GB plan costs $63 a month, and Telstra’s ‘Large’ plan comes with 8GB of data and costs $69 a month.
Prefer the iPad mini? Each carrier will start selling the Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad mini sometime in the coming weeks. The plans should be a little cheaper given the smaller iPad costs less to begin with.