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.
Electric vehicle are still a slow burner here in Ireland still but nonetheless people are buying them,for me range is still an issue and something that would be on peoples minds using them especially on a long trip,Electric vehicles though will continue to grow in the coming years but not as fast as other countries where they are rampant.
Thankfully there is some ways to keep an eye on things and plan ahead with some apps for our mobiles and one such app is called PlugShare which also allows users to submit feedback and tips within the app and you can also upload photos,this way people can be kept up to date with news and information about the locations and also leave tips for what surrounds the area so you can make plans whilst the car is being topped up..
PlugShare state
The largest community of EV drivers in the world, PlugShare users have contributed over 100,000 station reviews and 30,000 photos to make driving electric easier than ever before.
App features
★ Locate public charging stations for your electric vehicle.
★ View PlugScore™ station ratings, real-time availability, photos, and descriptions.
★ Check out reviews and tips from other PlugSharers.
★ Filter for chargers compatible with your electric vehicle.
★ Add new charging stations as you discover them.
★ Coordinate with others when you need to top off.
Next in our Jabra range up for testing is the Jabra Sport pace wireless headset,These are the ideal headsets to have for jogging or training and much more secure than the typical in-ear offering we are more custom too although there is plenty now coming on stream and have done so over the last few months. These also lightweight and rather comfortable to wear and do not get tangled as standard earphones would,nor do you need to worry about your headphone jack leave your device due to the wireless experience as opposed to plugging earphones into a mobile or iPod..
First check out the image gallery of the product below then head to the unboxing after.
Right side - Indicated with blue
Left side - Indicated
Micro USB port
Indicator Light
Indicator light on for connectivity purposes
Control unit,Volume/Multifuction button and mic
Microphone and Jabra branding
Fitclip
Contents
The package itself
Sports button
1 / 11
The Jabra Sports Pace come in Three colours which are Red,Blue and Yellow and weight just 22 grammes,they also charge quite quickly too and are sweat and weather resistant with an IP54 rating and also shockproof,Quick charging here will give you 60 mins life with just a 15 minute charge,Talk time is roughly 5 hours and has a standby time of 5 days.. For more product info and purchase see Jabra UK
My thoughts.
These to begin with these are not my typical choice of listening tool but over two weeks of use I came to like them and thats down to their weight and design,after a few minutes you forget they are there in fact,As far as sound goes they do the job better than some I have tried out in stores where the option to try earphones are available such as PC World for example. They are robust too which is good and can take a knock,if you drop them there is nothing to worry about,Im the kind of person that likes overheads and them being bulky and depending on the make dropping them can inflict damage with these you wont.
Pairing up to other devices is a simple task and you get a nice audible alert as you do with most of Jabra products (from what I have tried) This is something I like even though it may seem nothing to some,the Jabra sport life app however took some time to pair up with my phone for some reason but when I got it going it worked fine,you can select your activity on the app be it running.cycling or walking and then select time goals calorie burn goals or create interval training. Selecting music to listen to is plentiful you can choose from anything installed on your device and off you go it is good to see that third party app integration is present here.The sports button which is built in is also neat which begins when you activate it and it gives you a countdown to begin,the app tracks everything from GPS co-ordinates and distance and seemed to be accurate enough on my usage,Voice coaching is excellent too, The Multifunction button is handy to use although for me the buttons where too small and I found them a problem to begin with but I got shovel hands so this is not something to take in too much.
Battery life was fine but you would not get a full day,this would vary by person to be fair and it does have quick charge so that can be forgiven,professional athletes for example would need to charge daily whereas the average gym goers or joggers would be fine for a few hours. The only gripes I had was volume level,Personally I like it loud,very loud but they done the job only indoors I did see the real effect of how good the sound was,using outdoors was different and the experience was doused due to street noise etc. The distance on the cable between each side could have been a tad longer but then again I have a 19.5 inch neck so on this its down to the person more so than the product.
For the price they are good,solid,fit like a charm and look good,easy to use,set up and maintain..For this style of buds I am not custom to they impressed me which is a good thing coming from me and I wear them quite a bit now due to the fact you forge they are there after a few minutes.
Virtual pets have been a hit in the past reminding us so well of the tamagotchi days,but now we are more into mobile than before apps like this have hit mobile format and this new game for kids it might just keep them quite for a while with plenty to do within the gaming app..
With Suti you can choose your pet’s name, birthdate, and place of birth before entering into Suti’s world of games, activities, and fun! Like any other pet, baby Suti needs to be kept happy and healthy: choose from a variety of fruits, veggies, meats, and drinks to feed her.
Features of the app include.
Have fun taking care of your own virtual pet while playing these fun games:
● Flappy Suti – Avoid pipes, fly as far as you can.
● Color Challenge – Improve and challenge your color vision.
● Find the Pairs – Strengthen your memory by finding the pairs.
● Whack Till You Can – See how fast you can tap the popping pets.
● Group Them – Group the same items together as quickly as possible.
● Gatherer – Observe and gather all items needed.
● Pop Suti – Blast as many balloons as you can.
● Slide To Suti – Slide and hit others.
● Throw the Ball – Slam-dunk to get a high score.
● One Color – Tap on your pets until they all become the same color.
● Cloud Avoiding – Help Suti’s parachute jump to avoid clouds.
● Sky Diving – Fly to collect coins, but don’t hit the clouds!
Jabra have sent us over some prodcuts to check out and first up is the Jabra Soulemate Mini portable speaker which even a first looks impresses me. The packaging alone looks great and is presented well. The Soulemate Mini is smaller of the family and it still packs a punch form initial testing.more on that in full review.
The Package
Bottom,houses the 3.5 mm cable
Left side. NFC point
Front view
Right side,packaging
Back of box
Packaging Left
Contents
Right side
Packaging inside
2 / 10
The Soulemate Mini comes with NFC and Bluetooth for Wireless connectivity and sports up to 8 Hrs music playback with 90 days standby time,this is plenty for going on a daytrip..You can also connect your mobile phone or tablet to the prodcut via 3.5 cable and the result remains the same with output,with simple controls to use it will be a breeze for everyone to use and set up.
Check out the unboxing below and if there is any questions fire away.. And thanks again to Jabra whom have sent us this product.. You can see more over at Jabra UK
It is good to see apps like these appear and with the digital age now helping in health more and more it also flourishes for kids with Down Syndrome with more apps becoming available to assist in the well-being of children this new start up called Enabling Playwho was co-founded by brother and sister Will Jessop and Cara Jessop,the new app is called Millie Moreorless and is available for iPhone and iPad.
Nominet trust reports..
The game is based on pioneering scientific research in the field of Magnitude, our instinctive ability to identify whether one quantity is ‘more or less’ than another – without counting. This ability is believed by some scientists to be the foundation of all subsequent maths learning. However, research has revealed that children with Down Syndrome often experience significant developmental delays in this area. By helping players improve their magnitude sense, its creators believe their game will lay a foundation for children to learn the maths skills they will need to be independent in adult life.
Cara Jessop and Will Jessop, the co-founders of Enabling Play, say “Designing Millie Moreorless has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We believe that by allowing ourselves to be led by the young people themselves, we have created a game that is fun, engaging and inclusive. It is so important to bring players of all abilities into the mainstream. If we can help children with Down Syndrome get better at maths and lay the foundation for greater independence in adult life, then we will all benefit as a society.”
Features
– A fun environment for practising more and less
– A clear learning curve
– Easy to monitor a player’s progress
– Based on scientific research
– Designed and tested with children with Down’s Syndrome
– 5 worlds to explore
– Lots of rewards to collect along the way
– Free-play area inside Millie’s backpack
– Beautiful artwork by Nick Stoney
– Original soundtrack by Sam Swallow of the Hoosiers
Child –friendly design
– No third-party advertising
– No in-app purchases
– No social media integration
Our homes slowly are getting tech slowly everywhere from the likes of Nest,Kettles,Fridges,Door locks and even bulbs and soon all this will talk to each other,we have all heard of IoT which is the internet of things,this app cuts the needs for hubs and acts as a central unit and all in one place. Yonomi was founded in 2013 and recently have just launched this app which is a cloud and mobile only platform.This app can control your connected house whilst your away,save you money and more,it is a simple system to manage the things most of us will hate not requiring a need for multiple hubs and it just runs in the background on your smartphone..
Connect all of your favourite connected home devices and wearables like Sonos speakers, Philips Hue lights, Nest® products, and Jawbone UP with the free Yonomi app and without an additional hub. Quickly set up automated and triggered “routines” so your devices respond to each other to make your home more comfortable and your life easier.
A full list of supported devices below with more to follow..
The Nokia 3310 was one of the most popular phones in its time and in fact they still pop up every now and then in the wild and I myself own one still to this day (See image below) along with a clatter of other old Nokia greats of the past.The 3310 was one of those phones that the battery lasts for days and if it hit the ground the floor would break and lets not forget snake too…
You tube channel “The Hydraulic Press Channel” have posted a video putting the 3310 under the press to see what it would look like after it sees tonnes of pressure forced on it,can it survive and what do you think of the result and do you still have on of these great classics?
This is a pretty cool idea although for some it could be a bit morbid but however its a good idea,Whenever we hop on-board a plane on our holidays we always get the drill from the cabin crew but how many of us actually pay attention to them?? This app is akin to that but you can learn from home from the comfort of your device be it a mobile phone or tablet,Within the app you can be asked questions on what to do when something goes wrong and then you can act out certain incidents that can happen. On starting up the challenge you will have to go through a tutorial on navigation with your device to get comfortable with the tasks ahead.
The object of the game in short is to brush up on knowledge should such an incident arise and it is a great idea which may spawn more similar apps. Incidents which feature on the app are Boarding the plane,Runway Overrun,Water Landing,Ground collision and crash landing..
Description.
This 3D game has been developed in the context of an international, aviation safety research project (http://hcilab.uniud.it/aviation), aimed at exploring possible new approaches to safety education.
The game reproduces the experience of real-world aircraft emergencies from the passenger’s viewpoint, with the highest fidelity allowed by today’s mobile devices. In each virtual emergency experience, the player can try first-hand right and wrong actions that a passenger can take, and see the positive or negative consequences those actions have.
Your goal is to take all the right decisions to come out from the plane unharmed as fast as possible.
The game also offers the option of publishing your best evacuation results on world leaderboards.
The different levels of “Prepare for Impact” depict major types of emergencies, such as in-flight decompression, ground collision, runway overrun, water landing, and crash landing. Moreover, they are able to simulate the different threats that can make aircraft evacuation more complex, such as fire, smoke in the cabin, water, unusable exits, and others.
If you are the owner of the latest devices from Samsung the music app is now available for your devices today,the app is free of course and you can check the play store or use the link below..This app was native to its own store and now its running now as a beta. The app is just like any other streaming music app and was not present on these two devices at launch..The app is though compatible with devices running of Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The app supports playback for multiple sound formats like MP3, FLAC, AAC and WMA. It allows users to sort song lists by categories which include Genre, Folder, Composer, Album, Track and Artist.
Samsung Music is however is optimized for Samsung devices only.
