The Gadget Show

Episode 2 (19x2)

Air date: Mar 03, 2014

Presenters Jason Bradbury, Rachel Riley and Ortis Deley head off to the farm to test the strength of tablet cases. How will five of the most popular tablets stand up to a pounding from a herd of cows as well as a real game of angry birds? Back in the studio, Jon Bentley is looking at the world of digital assistants – smartphone software that claims to be able to organise our lives. Do they really work, and can Google’s Now and Samsung’s S-Voice really challenge Siri, used by Apple’s iPhone? In his first European trip of the season, Jason is the Austrian mountains to see what happens when you mix a tank, a wheelchair and a pile of snow. The result is an extraordinary form of transport! Meanwhile, on the other side of the Alps in Italy, Ortis joins newly crowned Italian barista champion Giacomo Vannelli to test coffee machines. As the heady aroma fills the air, what does Giacomo make of the machines’ claims to make the perfect coffee with just one press of a button? Back in the UK, Rachel negotiates her way through the world of satnavs and discovers how the science behind them keeps Britain moving. She also reveals how these satellites in the sky could soon be doing something much more than just helping people to get from A to B.