Leading real hands on tech review site in Ireland with technology, business news and more. Jim O Brien Tech.
Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
Only a few weeks into the new year and a new scam. Well perhaps not new nonetheless you need to watch out for it. In typical form the SMS will be sent to your device and telling you that you have won a nice €750 voucher. Its simply no true and nothing to do with Super Valu. We just got this text a few moments ago.. The SMS will have MW Media 2405 and claim to be smart shopping dot com and then telling you that you have received a photo message. See the image below and watch out for this and DO NOT attempt to open the SMS no matter how tempting. These ultimately rope you into either a subscription service or just steal credit from you.
We have spoke to Super Valu about this and they will also alert people about this scam..
Drew Burstein is the owner and director of a company called Frame Your TV. He regularly writes about interesting topics in relation to television and has created this infographic on ‘The Rise of SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) , Is Online TV Killing Traditional TV?’
Online TV and video services are forecast to generate $42 billion / £30 billion in global revenues by 2020.
Over 50% of consumers state that they watch streamed on-demand video content at least once a day, up from 30% in 2010.
While traditional TV still remains strong, it is linked to age and one in four consumers completely cut or pared back their traditional TV services in 2015.
The provision of high-speed Internet is a must for any business, but that does not automatically mean it should pay big bucks for the highest bandwidth packages on the market when more conservative packages would suffice. To determine how much bandwidth a business should be paying for, it needs to conduct a full investigation into its Internet usage, including the browsing activity of users on the company’s network and the flow of that activity. It’s also important to account for the number of users on the network and the maximum downtime that the business could afford without productivity and profitability being affected.
This infographic that Irish Telecom (http://www.irishtelecom.com/managed-network.php) have sent us over covers the most important aspects that a business needs to consider when determining its bandwidth requirements. Some companies would make do with lightweight packages if all they need is to be able to surf the Internet and operate an email account. Others would need high-bandwidth packages if their routine online activity includes a high level of web-based application usage and caters for 20 or more users, many of whom will connect multiple devices to the network.
The first step to reducing bandwidth usage is to crack down on non-business use. Most of us have probably been guilty of frittering away office hours on social media in the hope that we won’t get caught, but even if your boss doesn’t spot it, the evidence will be there in the bandwidth consumption figures. As for streaming websites such as Netflix? Of course it shouldn’t be used during working hours, but there’s definitely some who try to get away with it, and in the process feast on their employers’ bandwidth usage. The best thing the employer can do is to block it outright and conserve bandwidth for more economical functions which are actually relevant to company activity.
Take a look at the infographic below for a guide on finding the ideal office bandwidth balance.
Recently we featured a well known product called TrackR which is a small tracking device which can be placed almost anywhere and it gives you the ability to track items via you smartphone, This time around we check out a similar product called Tile Mate.. Its made from plastic,its small and discreet and surprisingly no GPS built in,instead it uses your mobile phones geodata.
It looks simple and is simple its simple to set up and thats all you need to know, Simplicity wins for most but functionality is also important this has it all. So after you purchase the tile all you need to do is download the app on Android or iOS and set it up which take a minute or two..
It comes well presented in a nice package too if I may add, I am a stickler for presentation if you do not know by now.. Is comes in a two tone colour there is one button and some plastic to protect it, I suggest leaving it on if you can as its prone to getting marked.. You can press the button marked “Tile” to hear some sounds to ensure its alive and well.. This wakes up the tile too.
Tile works rather well. There is several reasons.. You can find things and if you lost your mobile phone you can ring it not only that its crowd-sourced too so users anywhere within a range can alert you to where your missing item last was so this is idea is quite a benefit having a network of users as additional eyes if you will.. the problem though with this is that it has no GPS tracking which will not show you a TRUE location it works via Bluetooth but you can leave the app running in the background and as mentioned you can report a lost item an other users can pick up on this once they are running the app too which you probably should and would deem your purchase void if not to be honest. Also to point out if you misplace your mobile phone you just tap the Tile icon twice then this rings your mobile phone which is neat along with this you can of course ring your things from the tile..
There is no separation alerts here which is a letdown but not a caveat. From using TrackR I was pleased to have this but then over time I was getting pointless separation alerts and eventually turned it off because it annoyed me several times a day for nothing but thats not to take away from TrackR it works dam well. Another great feature here is that the Tile itself is LOUD. You could easily hear it if something was buried under your car seat or down the back of your sofa so thats pretty neat. Tile is also waterproof. Tile also works within a 100ft range with any Bluetooth V4. Tile will last you around One Year but they do offer a replacement programme which is nice..
Overall Tile is a good piece of small tech that wont get in your way and help you out someday when you are in trouble but for the majority of the time it will sit redundant wherever you place it having said that its not a bad thing if you are not in the habit of loosing things and if you are this is something you should consider. One small thing as I said with TrackR,being a security conscious person I would not advertise it and leaving it dangling on a bag for all to see for example because would be thieves would be aware of such gadgets and just remove them. Other than that it works perfectly fine and does what it says on the tin..
Porn is one of the biggest industries in the world and with the launch of VR this is not going to go away anytime soon, In fact its going to be good for the industry. People that know me well know I am a fan of the VR world and have asked have I tried any of the apps yet and the answer is NO.. Perhaps I should see for myself but for me its just like squashing your head up to the TV at home seeing things bigger, I cant think for any reason how it will actually enhance the experience but hey.. You can tell us if you like… Like my timeline does be full of images suggesting sites to try and mostly these are paid visits which I totally disagree with and find it sad to be honest.. But since the explosion of VR its obviously a win for the porn industry and they are not hanging around on cashing in..
Does this next step take the virtual piss though and who wold buy a canister of the dangly bits?? Thats how it works you buy canisters of a particular cent and they dont come cheap either.. This is where we are at now though so perhaps its time to get use to it.. Also this will come with its very own standalone app… The mask will cost from around €60 and the scents around €6. This is probably going to be the next best thing to a Virtual Doll.
OhRoma is a sensory mask that users attach to their virtual reality headset & synch with their teledildonics accessory. Just as a user sees, hears and feels in their 360-degree virtual surroundings while wearing their headset, with OhRoma they can now smell them too! Invented by the engineers at CamSoda Labs, users can choose from an assortment of sensual scents that are proven to excite, arouse and, ultimately, climax.
Users place the OhRoma mask over their face. The mask will heat up the cartridges and begin to produce various aromas. Users can utilize the app to pick and choose the aroma they want to smell. They can even combine aromas and switch between how heavy or light each scent is.
Well thats the short and curlys about this new piece of tech to enter the world and to be honest you could not deny it was coming… What do you think, Tell us below.
Social payments are very much an emerging trend in Ireland; paying friends and family via a text with no need to exchange a long list of bank details makes life just that little bit easier. Like a lot of tech trends, China is already a huge user of social payments, and the rest of the world is following suit. We can look to China to see what is perhaps to come, which is interesting. Over there, there’s barely a need for a bank card anymore, let alone cash! Will we see that in Ireland some day? Maybe!
For those of us only just making the transition though, we’ve been talking to Circle, which launched its social payments app in Ireland in October last year, to find out more. So, to keep it simple (much like the app itself!) here are the top five things you want to know about Circle…
Easy to set up.
First things first, it’s FREE! It’s also really simple to download; just search ‘Circle Pay’ in the App Store or Google Play, or visit: www.circle.com/signup. To sign up, use your email address or phone number. Then, instead of spending ten minutes typing in and triple checking every number on your debit card, all you have to do it scan it and it’ll register the details. The reassuring thing here is that this isn’t a photo that’s saved; the details are recorded in the same way they would be if you’d put them in manually – i.e. ‘VISA **** 1234’.
Fingerprint protection.
No one else has your fingerprint so if you add yours to the app login, you’ve that as guarantee that nobody else can use it to secretly pay themselves! In addition to the fingerprint protection though, you also set a secure PIN, the app requires two-device verification, and it’s all protected as Circle has FCA authorisation – so don’t worry if you’re behind the times and your phone doesn’t have touch ID, you’re still safe and secure!
It’s free wherever you are in the world.
Yes, it’s free to download, but is there a charge for sending and receiving money? No. Great, isn’t it? You can even send money to a friend or family member in the UK or US and the money will be exchanged into GBP or USD for free. There are also no limits. So, if you wanted to pay your mum back that €3,000 she lent you for your car, you can do it all in one hit.
Friend owes you? Request it back!
We all have that one friend that’s enjoying their evening in the pub, the beers are flowing and it’s all fun and games, but then – oh, it’s their round – where have they gone?! Suddenly needed to get home, did they? Hmm…well, with Circle, you and your other mates can request what they owe! Fill a text with beer emojis and ask for that €5 to be repaid! All they have to do is click accept and you can have that final pint on them. It’s a great way of calling them on their cheeky behaviour and it might just make them re-think skipping out next time.
Make money by inviting your friends to join.
No, you didn’t misread that! If you invite your friends to join, when they sign up and make a transaction of at least €25, you’ll receive €5 free credit! Invite all your friends and your friends and you could start to make some serious money…although I guess that depends on how popular you are!
If you have not delved into the world of VR proper yet and sport comaptible devices the Samsung Gear VR is now going on the cheap and its a worthy investment if you have not got one when purchasing the devices. The Gear VR 2015/2016 is now discounted on Amazon UK and the US too. If you have a parcel motel account it would be advisable to use this for shipping..
Both the 2015 and 2016 models are available on the cheap and there is not much difference between the two so perhaps for first timers the older version could be a viable purchase or just hop right in and buy the newer 2016 model. They are the best out there offering a real immersive experience right now without having to fork out hundreds on other options that require super computers to run them…
The HP Elite x3 launched here some months ago but only online. No network will touch this device for multiple reasons being A the price and B its running on a dying OS. You could probably included the demographic here too considered the devices intended market. We all knew that the Windows Phone platform has had it rough and even with Windows 10 things are not improving even with universal apps. Market share also is basically a handful of users compared to its rival operating systems. As a Windows Phone user I say this with regret but lets face it who in their right mind would pay that for such a phone..You can of course if you decide to buy it check out UK pricing which is not much better and still way overpriced
The Device is nice in fairness with a sturdy build but thats probably all it has going for it and you can if you want to drag out the excuse you can claim your VAT back will cost you €799 but this price still is just making an already hard sell even harder. We are talking iPhone prices here again something that is typically overpriced Disagree?? Tell us why…
There is several apps available now to keep an eye on the ISS and of course we can just login to You Tube to do the same thing but this new app offer all this in one app with a few extras and think its worth a mention.. Within the app you can also keep up to speed with their Twitter and Facebook news and get some additional information to boot.The app is free on both Android and iOS..
Description
Incredible live views from the International Space Station. Watch LIVE as the station circles the earth.
The ISS orbits the earth once every 90 minutes. Half of the time is spent on the night side of the planet. During this time, or when transmission drops, pre-recorded footage will be shown to ensure that breaks are kept to a minimum.
At all other times you will see the LIVE view from the space station itself!
