Say hello to Phorm, The world’s first morphing touchscreen. by @jimboireland #Phorm #Keyboard

There is many accessories for our devices these days and the supply will always continue but here is something quite cool and i think this will do rather well and it looks like a typical ipad case but its not its much more than that,its a new product called Phorm made by tactus

 

phorm1

Tactus brings real physical buttons that dynamically appear and disappear into a flat touch screen. Never again will you have to choose between thin stylish devices with edge-to-edge touchscreens and amazing usability. Mobile can truly mean productivity, immersive gaming, and adaptive interfaces with Tactus.

 

Another bonus is that this does not need your devices battery either. Finger Guides allow you to feel the letters so you can strike the right target as you type. Soon you’ll be typing fluently without even looking.

 

It looks like it will take time to adjust from the traditional feel of your tablet in general but it would not be hard to adapt,we are in a fast changing world and we are now becoming able to adapt quickly example being moving from smaller screened phones to phablets,who would of thought it at the beginning of the phablet boom…

Check out more over at Phorm you can now pre-order this for the iPad mini for $99

 

New Windows Phone Recovery Tool From Microsoft. by @jimboireland #Microsoft.

As mentioned during the week with  W10 TP now available people wondered if we could roll back should we have issues or do not like it could we roll back to 8,1 and the answer was yes,and now the option has arrived for those that wish to do so.

This is now available for users to download to their PC..

 

Download the Windows Recovery Tool

You can now pick some to mind your #Facebook when you die. by @jimboireland #Legacy

Facebook have now introduced a featured so that when you die you can have someone look after it for you,some might find it a bit morbid but im sure there is plenty out there who would like to see their digital legacy continue,its happened before with some stars that have past with people managing their accounts and there is a surge of digital legacy companies setting up in the last couple of years which shows its a trend.

Facebook however are taking a different approach by allowing a user to select somebody to to act on their behalf. This is only allowed in the US for now but surely will become more available over the coming months.

 

 

 

Today we’re introducing a new feature that lets people choose a legacy contact—a family member or friend who can manage their account when they pass away. Once someone lets us know that a person has passed away, we will memorialize the account and the legacy contact will be able to:

  • Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message)
  • Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook
  • Update the profile picture and cover photo

If someone chooses, they may give their legacy contact permission to download an archive of the photos, posts and profile information they shared on Facebook. Other settings will remain the same as before the account was memorialized. The legacy contact will not be able to log in as the person who passed away or see that person’s private messages.

Alternatively, people can let us know if they’d prefer to have their Facebook account permanently deleted after death.

Until now, when someone passed away, we offered a basic memorialized account which was viewable, but could not be managed by anyone. By talking to people who have experienced loss, we realized there is more we can do to support those who are grieving and those who want a say in what happens to their account after death.

 

Open your settings. Choose Security and then Legacy Contact at the bottom of the page.

After choosing your legacy contact, you’ll have the option to send a message to that person.

You may give your legacy contact permission to download an archive of the posts, photos and profile info you’ve shared on Facebook.

We’ve also redesigned memorialized profiles to pay tribute to the deceased by adding “Remembering” above their name and making it possible for their legacy contact to pin a post to the top of their Timeline.

 

Source 

Sky News and Sky Sports joins Snapchat. Ireland and the UK. by @jimboireland #Sky

Sky News and Sky Sports have joined Snapchat,some might find it odd and as ever they have had some funny comments thrown at them on Twitter,most would see Snapchat as a kids platform but everyone has their own opinion,personally im not bothered about Snapchat ..

They can be found in the discover tab alongside some other well known names such as  MTV,Yahoo News,National Geographic and the Mail Online. Snapchat Discover launched in the US and globally at the end of January.

Around 5 to 10 stories will feature in each edition, curated by editors at both companies. The edition disappears after 24 hours.

 

Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel said: “We are huge fans of Sky News and Sky Sports and are grateful for the opportunity to partner with their outstanding team.”

Snapchat is one of a new wave of messaging apps that have gained popularity, along with WhatsApp, Line and Kik.

Moving from messaging between users to publishing content to them is a shift for Snapchat and could offer a new revenue stream, with adverts served up next to publishers’ editions.

Snapchat does not share its number of monthly users, but Techcrunch reported in December that it had around 200 million.

For news organisations, Snapchat offers access to a much younger demographic than even Facebook or Twitter do.

John McAndrew, Director of News Output for Sky News, said: “Our partnership with Snapchat is very exciting. We can reach a whole new audience hungry for news in a concise and creative form on a platform they already enjoy.”

What do you think of this news from Sky ?

Source

Flipboard launches on the web. Flipboard is everywhere,by @jimboireland #Flipboard

Flipboard started out a couple of years ago and i remember being part of the Beta back then and its been easily one of my favourite news aggregators since then,its got a nice UI its smooth,easy to use and manage and it just works,recently flipboard has also launched on windows phone too with some new changes but it still provides me with my daily content and on Windows Phone Magnify would be also my top feed,they are similar.I would also use Taptu on Android alongside Flipboard on my droids.

 

 

 

Flipboard announced this evening the following..

 

We smile when we think of 2015 as the year of our Web launch, but it’s here: a beautiful version of Flipboard for the desktop and a major new frontier on our quest to build the world’s best personal magazine.

By developing for mobile first (Flipboard was originally built for the iPad in 2010), we saw that content could shine again in a clean and uncluttered environment. The Web evolved, too, with things like responsive design making for easier (and prettier) reading and navigation. The vision of our founders—to bring a print-like aesthetic to digital content—could finally be realized.

You’ll see that Flipboard.com has its own look and feel. As with developing for iPhone,Android and Windows, the team builds on a platform’s unique attributes while still retaining the heart and soul of Flipboard. For example, Flipboard on the Web has responsive layouts for different screen sizes…

If you are a Flipboard fan this will be great news for the fans.

 

Read More over at Flipboard

 

 

Samsung Gear VR headset apparently not for Ireland Says #Samsung #VR by @jimboireland

Last year Samsung announced the Superb Galaxy Note 4 and also the Note Edge which are arguably  the best handsets on the Market today but they also announced the  Gear VR headset at IFA which seemed quite popular on announcement.

People therefore opted to buy the Galaxy Note 4 in preference to the Edge in order to use it with the VR headset as the Note Edge is not compatible.People have been asking about the VR headset and its nowhere to be seen so they were asked on Facebook about by several people and they replied that they would not be ranging it here..Users who have anticipated and opted for the Note 4 may not be happy at this news but in time it might change however its available to buy online but you will probably pay a considerable amount for it.

Our own Tech Bernie also asked them. We also asked our contact who is a rep for Samsung.

Via Samsung Ireland Facebook

Shell garages to let you pay at the pump with PayPal and Motorist App. by @jimboireland #Shell

Shell are to now allow users in the UK to pay for their petrol or diesel from their car,It saves you time by allowing you to pay for fuel by credit or debit card without having to queue in the shop. Also, the terminals are chip and pin enabled, providing you with added reassurance when paying for your fuel.

Now this is kind of funny,at every garage we always see signs sporting ” do not use your phone” and so on..

Shell currently have an app on Android and iOS called “Shell Motorist” which lets you check your Fuels Reward Network ® points balance, your transactions and rewards progress.

– Find the nearest station with the Shell Station Locator
– Keep up to date with all the latest news on Shell promotions, products and services.

 

The Telegraph UK reports the following..

After a successful pilot in 2013, the service will be available to Shell Drivers Club members from April and then nationwide later in 2015 through both the PayPal app and the Shell Motorist app.

Michael Hominick, Retail Marketing Manager at Shell UK, claimed “Customers will now have the flexibility and convenience of paying without having to leave their car. Those who want to go in store and pay or purchase other items will still be able to, with the benefit of reduced queues.”

Rob Harper, Director of Mobile Commerce at PayPal UK added that “We’ve always believed people will use their mobile phones to pay if there’s a clear benefit.”

The PayPal app is already accepted in more than 8,000 UK shops and restaurants, and is used through some 19 million active British accounts. Would you like to see this implemented here in Ireland not only with shell ? Tell us below.

Source

A smartphone dongle for diagnosis of infectious diseases. by @jimboireland #STDs

Odd it may seem but its happening,There is a dongle for diagnosing STDs,however looking ahead this could be an ideal solution without the embarrassment and shorten queues in hospitals and more again it gives results quite quickly too and apparently cheap enough considered costs you would accumulate having to get tested etc..

A team of researchers, led by Samuel K. Sia, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has developed a low-cost smartphone accessory that can perform a point-of-care test that simultaneously detects three infectious disease markers from a finger prick of blood in just 15 minutes. The device replicates, for the first time, all mechanical, optical, and electronic functions of a lab-based blood test. Specifically, it performs an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) without requiring any stored energy: all necessary power is drawn from the smartphone. It performs a triplexed immunoassay not currently available in a single test format: HIV antibody, treponemal-specific antibody for syphilis, and non-treponemal antibody for active syphilis infection.

 

 

 

“Our dongle presents new capabilities for a broad range of users, from health care providers to consumers,” Sia adds. “By increasing detection of syphilis infections, we might be able to reduce deaths by 10-fold. And for large-scale screening where the dongle’s high sensitivity with few false negatives is critical, we might be able to scale up HIV testing at the community level with immediate antiretroviral therapy that could nearly stop HIV transmissions and approach elimination of this devastating disease.”

 

Read more at Science Mag

 

You can now buy the One Plus One every Tuesday with no invite. by @jimboireland #OnePlus

Lat year the One Plus One launched and had a rather odd business model even i ranted about it openly but in the end,sending invites to buy a phone to me was a rather silly idea but it turned out to be a good idea for them and its one of the best handsets out there today in terms of money thats for sure,its a great device all over and you cant argue its price.

Today we received a mail in our inbox which states the following.

 

Dear Friends,We’ve been shipping the OnePlus One for half a year, and nowadays we’re bumping into lots of people using it when we’re out and about. It’s incredibly exciting for us, but we always strive to do better. Although we have an active and supportive fanbase, a lot of people have interest in the One but have told us that it’s just too difficult to buy. We believe that great things should be shared. Thus, it’s been our goal from the beginning to put our products into the hands of as many people as possible.

Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring new ways of making the OnePlus One easier to purchase. The overall amount of available invites has increased significantly, but we’ve also held pre-order and open sales events, allowing for purchases without the need for an invite. During these events, we have been collecting data and fine-tuning our production schedules.

Today, we’re glad to announce that we’re making it even easier to buy the One.

Every Tuesday, we will open up sales for 24 hours, starting at 8 am London time (midnight in Los Angeles; 4 pm in Hong Kong). The OnePlus One will be available without an invite in both 16GB Silk White and 64GB Sandstone Black.

This doesn’t mean that our beloved invite system is going away, and it will continue to be the standard method for purchasing the One during the remaining 6 days of the week. And, you will still receive invites to share with friends whenever you buy a One, even onTuesdays.

As a young tech startup, we’re constantly experimenting, iterating and improving. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and coming with us on this journey. We wouldn’t be where we are without you, and you are all as much a part of OnePlus as we are.

Never Settle.

The OnePlus Team