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.
Bored with your Android wear watch-face? Fear not there is some new designer faces just after landing for you to pick from,Android wear is now giving much more choice for the consumer and instead of boring plane faces there is some really cool options for you to try in the store… Some are free and some do cost a little but they are worth the spend..
New designs are…
Ted Baker: Reveal your sophisticated side with ten gorgeous designs.
Melissa Joy Manning: Rock a different birthstone for every month of the year.
Vivienne Tam: Watch Opera Girl twirl, take a selfie, and more.
Nicole Miller: Stay on track and in style with Nicole Miller’s pop art.
Y-3: Sport the styles of Yohji Yamamoto, inspired by the beauty of human movement.
Mango: Add instant chic to any outfit with this ready-to-wear watch face.
Zoe Jordan: Free your time of clutter with the clean lines of modern design.
Harajuku Kawaii!: Express your playful side with this adorable and vibrant watch face.
ASICS: Motivate yourself to stay active with the help of your fitness buddy.
If you have a house full of gadgets this app is made for you,its pretty dam cool and has a Minority Report touch to it if you will….
Over the next few years we will slowly see more connected devices enter our homes and this app will make them talk to each other,We do have some connected devices in our homes now and some perhaps do not realise it,Take Nest for example, a smartbulb TV or Fridge,though they cant really talk to each other,this is where this app comes in.This app is an augmented reality app that lets you link the smart objects around you together, just by drawing connections with your finger between them.
The Reality Editor is a new kind of tool for empowering you to connect and manipulate the functionality of physical objects. Just point the camera of your smartphone at an object and its invisible capabilities will become visible for you to edit. Drag a virtual line from one object to another and create a new relationship between these objects. With this simplicity, you are able to master the entire scope of connected objects.
The Reality Editor is a result of three years of MIT research,it looks futuristic and cool and its available to download now,it maybe some time before we will need such an app as standard but its certainly the future,check out the full story below..
Myvouchers.ie has got an app which has landed on Android,If you have not heard of them what they do is unite customers with Deals & Discounts no matter where they travel in Ireland,this makes life simple and simplicity is a win for consumers.. Also to note there is no upfront payments required which again is a bonus.. The app is simple to use which allows you to search by county,location,category or just a general search..
App description
Myvouchers.ie are a website dedicated to uniting customers with Deals & Discounts wherever they are going. We have a simple process of selecting and saving. You don’t buy any of our Deals in Advance so there is no risk of a Deal expiring and you losing out as a result. All our Deals are Pay on Arrival.
The Deals / Discounts you see on screen are what you print off and there are never any hidden Terms & Conditions.
Maybe a slight admission by Apple that their batteries are poor but to be fair many of today’s smartphone batteries will see you through the day especially if you are a power user,It is also still true that we do suffer from battery anxiety and this remains an issue for many folk..
This new gadget from Apple is said to extend your battery life by up to 25hrs and it aint cheap either coming in at €119 but its not a bad idea although it does look a bit hideous from the rear.. It reminds me of a big plaster,This also comes in two colours which may expand later on to give consumers a better choice than two basic colours compared to their cases that are available to buy which has a nicer range of colours.
Product info..
The Smart Battery Case is engineered specifically for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6, to give you even longer battery life and protection. The soft microfibre lining on the inside helps protect your iPhone, while the soft elastomer hinge design makes it easy to put the case on and take it off again. On the outside, the silky, soft-touch finish of the silicone exterior feels great in your hand.
Charge your iPhone and battery case simultaneously for increased talk time up to 25 hours, Internet use up to 18 hours on LTE, and even longer audio and video playback.* With the Smart Battery Case on, the intelligent battery status is displayed on the iPhone Lock screen and in Notification Centre, so you know exactly how much charge you have left.
If you like to customise your mobile phone and the stock suite is not doing it for you you can now avail of the Nova Launcher Prime for just 50 cents,this is quite a good deal and will give folk that are bored with stock options something to play around with.Custom launchers are quite popular and Nova Launcher Prime is one of them…There is also a free version but this is worth the punt.
Nova Launcher Prime
Unlock the following extras by purchasing Nova Launcher Prime
• Gestures – Swipe, pinch, double tap and more on the home screen to open your favorite apps
• Unread Counts – Never miss a message. Unread count badges for Hangouts, SMS, Gmail and more using the TeslaUnread plugin
• Custom Drawer Groups – Create new tabs or folders in the app drawer
• Hide Apps – Keep a clean app drawer by hiding never used apps
• Icon Swipes – Set custom actions for swiping on app shortcuts or folders
• More scroll effects – Such as Wipe, Accordion, and Throw
We have just received our much anticipated BlackBerry Priv and so far it seems to be a really nice device,Up till now there has been much talk about its price and I tend to agree it is a little costly but after the wait people have jumped right in and paid a premium price for the first Android from BlackBerry..This is a new direction for BlackBerry who are struggling at the moment when it comes to handset sales,With a slider and keyboard to boot this device sticks out in the crowd and offers users something new,will it keep current BlackBerry fans under its belt and convert those back who have moved on? The keyboard is not like the amazing Passport but reminds me of old and is one of BlackBerry’s well known features,is this enough to keep them afloat?
Main attributes to the Priv are as follows.
Shoots 4K– 200GB of storage – 32GB on board storage. Up to 52 shortcuts can be applied and get full use of the keyboard,although its seems a bit crammed you quickly adapt to it,then of course you can use the virtual keyboard their own native keyboard is excellent and you can always switch to swiftkey too,you have choice…
IMAGE GALLERY
Dual curved screen – Something Samsung brought to the table but its nice,its unique and make the device its own,the device feels comfortable in hand too.
Keyboard
Small it maybe but you get used to it quickly,not quite the same as old though,those who have owned the passport or classic will feel a tad hard done by.But as i said its quick to adapt too and already I am finding myself using it more,Much better than THIS
Battery Life
3410mAh sounds good on the tin but its going to get you a day,given the few days we have used it the battery life is improving and about 4hrs screen on time,with a Marshmallow update due in 2016 this will fix many niggles,so they need to move on that…Again fast charging is present so this can be forgiven..
Speaker
Its big and loud,not like the HTC boom but good nonetheless,great audio clarity,however when headphones are used via the 3,5mm jack sound is poor,its low..This can be addressed by a software update,Yes BlackBerry listen up….We like our music loud..When using headphones via bluetooth or USB OTG the sound is also great though,but for wired fans this 3.5mm volume issue needs addressing…
Build Quality
Top notch it has to be said,with a grippy back holding the Priv is nice,it wont slip from hand,it feels solid as a whole,even when opened the slider mechanism feels solid and the device feels solid yet better balanced.
The cons
Price,touching €800,It could have had marshmallow on board instead of lollipop, Availability and its unlikely we will see this in Ireland on a network..
Take a look at the image gallery and unboxing below and if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments or get me on the Twitter machine and we will answer you there..
Most folk like to take photos on our devices and share to social media this is nothing new and its likely to stay this way for some time yet,Although some folk go to the extreme sharing every moment in their life is annoying and for the most we like to see good things,not just food and shared Flickr photo-shoots spamming the life out of Twitter etc..
We can now take 3D photos thanks to Google’s Cardboard Camera app in a VR style,However we need to have Google Cardboard to avail of it and its pretty cheap to pick up too if you shop around,you are talking around €25-30..
Cardboard Camera takes VR photos – moments in time that you can relive in virtual reality. Hear the sounds as they happened, and look around to see the scene in every direction. VR photos are 3D, so things near to you look close and distant things look far away. Whether it’s a holiday getaway or a family get-together, VR photos will bring you back to that moment.
Features:
• Take beautiful panoramic photos with depth and sound that you can see and hear in VR.
• Download and start capturing immediately. No sign-up or account required.
• View photos in virtual reality using Google Cardboard.
Yahoo Messenger app has got some new features and improvements,only recently they launched a new app called Livetext .
This also was to me pointless,after ditching yahoo mail last year I felt it was poor and inconsistent too and outdated,Yahoo are trying to hang onto services and people but they are moving away too,even with Flikr I gave up on.This app seems to be an attempt to claw back on its former customers but Yahoo have entered an already crowed space here so will it help?
With the app only on Android and iOS its already shafted Windows Phone users although this app is hardly something Windows Phone fans will cry for and they are struggling with top named apps as is,this app certainly wont be on their list…
The all-new Yahoo Messenger is the fastest, easiest way to chat and share lots of photos and animated GIFs instantly. Plus, now you can unsend messages—yep, you can take it all back!
More than just a messenger:
• Chat one-on-one or in groups
• Yes, take backs! Tap “Unsend” to remove photos and messages from a conversation
• Instantly share lots of high-resolution photos at once
• Swipe to view photos beautifully displayed in a carousel
• Express yourself with animated GIFs
• “Like” messages and photos in the conversation
• Offline/low connectivity mode—anything you share will be posted once you’re back online
• Optimized for use with TalkBack
So yet again we see some more smart tech in the underwear department only this time its tells you when its time to empty the bladder etc,subconsciously we can already decide for ourselves when we want to go but this device will tell you before you think you want to go so it might be useful for some,so take take note…on a more serious note it is also useful for those who suffer with incontinence too so from that perspective its sounding like a good idea.
This works with an app and your smartphone too,The device, unveiled last week at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) on the outskirts of Tokyo, is not yet on sale but could be on the market by spring next year.
Reuters have reported the following after an interview with its creators
“This device predicts faecal excretion. The device goes on your stomach and uses ultrasonic waves to monitor your internal organs and sends the data to smartphones to be displayed,” said Ryohei Ochiai, of Triple W Japan’s Solution Development.
However, the company is still working on alternative methods to secure the device to underwear, because many people are concerned that it may chafe their skin.
“We are still in the process of looking at whether to use tape or belts to secure the device to the stomach. However, many elderly people are concerned about skin chafing. So we are looking at how to secure the device safely and solidly,” Ochiai said.
