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.

Boosting SEO Performance: Unleashing the Power of Backlink Checker Tools

The majority of businesses these days are moving online, and digital marketing has become a major way of attracting new clients, generating leads, and boosting brand visibility. Search Engine Optimization is the main way to improve a website’s visibility and drive organic traffic. It consists of multiple aspects, including content creation, keyword optimization, and one of the most important factors, the presence of high-quality backlinks. Backlinking signals both search engines and users online that the content you’re creating is trustworthy and relevant. In this article, you’ll learn about the importance of backlinking and how to use backlink checker tools to boost your business’s visibility and rank higher in SERP.

Understanding Backlink Analysis 

Backlinks play a crucial role in SEO. Those are hyperlinks that point from one website to another. For instance, other websites can link to your blog posts in their articles, inviting people to check out your content. These links will indicate that your content is relevant, valuable, and worth reading. Now, let’s talk about the importance of backlinks. 

Importance of Backlinks

Backlinks have numerous benefits for businesses and their websites’ SEO efforts.

 

  • Increased organic traffic: When people read content on a specific website and click on links to your site, it increases organic traffic, especially if they find your content valuable. 


  • Improved credibility: The more backlinks from authoritative websites you have, the more credible people will consider you. It is essential to create high-quality content to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field and can be trusted. 


  • Increased rankings: Backlinks are one of the top ways to increase your ranking in SERP. Search engines like Google consider a large number of high-quality backlinks as a sign that your website can be trusted, and it leads to higher rankings. 


  • Fast indexing: When search engine crawlers index pages that have links to your website, they follow these links and start analyzing your pages, lending to faster indexing and better visibility in SERP.

 

To experience all these benefits, you can use a Backlink Checker Tool by NinjaReports. It is a versatile backlink checker tool with a lot of useful features, such as comprehensive backlink analysis, competitor analysis, customized reporting features, integration with other SEO tools, etc. It simplifies the process of backlink creation by automating the process, visualizing the data, and allowing you to receive actionable insights about your current backlink profile and opportunities. 

Backlink Analysis Process

Not all backlinks are of high quality. It is essential to learn how to analyze them and ensure that they will benefit your SEO efforts. There are a few steps to do that:

 

  • Gather backlink data: You can gather backlinks by using various online backlink checker tools. These tools provide lists of backlinks that are used by other websites and can be beneficial for you. 


  • Check domain authority: Once you have a list of backlinks, pay attention to their authority. You should use backlinks that have the highest authority, as websites with these links have a greater impact on rankings. 


  • Analyze relevancy: All backlinks you use should be relevant to the content you create. For example, if you have a blog about IT development, you should look for websites that write on similar topics because it will help you attract users interested in this domain. 


  • Check link quality: You should also check whether the websites you take backlinks from are reputable, create content of high quality, and can be trusted. Using backlinks that lead to websites with poor content or spam can affect your website’s performance in SERP.

Leveraging Backlink Checker Tools

According to recent statistics, 55.24% of web pages on the internet have zero backlinks, and 29.79% of web pages have less than 3 backlinks. That’s why it’s essential to start using backlink checker tools for your benefit. 

Backlink analysis can be automated and done fast and easily with the help of various backlink checker tools available online. 

Backlink checker tools are SEO tools that help businesses analyze and evaluate their backlink profiles, find new opportunities, and analyze their competitors. Usually, backlink checkers have the following functionality:

 

  • Backlink analysis: These tools collect data about backlinks from multiple sources, providing you with a comprehensive overview of the total number of backlinks, their authority, domains, anchor texts, and the quality of the backlinks. 


  • Link quality assessment: Backlink checkers constantly update information about backlink quality and authority. They assess page authority, citation flow, spam score, domain authority, etc. You can see all these numbers when you click on a specific backlink, which helps you decide whether to use it. 


  • Competitor analysis: This is an essential feature of any backlink checker. You need to compare your website to your competitors to identify gaps in your strategy, opportunities, and possible collaborations. You can also use the same backlinks as your competitors if they see that these links bring real results. 


  • Reporting: Backlink checker tools allow generating reports with graphs, charts, and other visual elements to help you comprehend the data easier and evaluate your backlink profile. 


  • Link discovery: You can discover new potential links through these tools, find broken links, and guest posting opportunities. 

Best Practices for Backlink Analysis

Backlink analysis is a multi-step process that includes various practices, two of the most effective being identifying high-quality backlinks and competitive analysis. 

Identifying high-quality backlinks helps you find links that are relevant to your content, come from authoritative websites, and can be trusted both by users and search engines. Moreover, it is essential to create a natural, balanced link profile with backlinks from different domains, IP addresses, and types of content (image, text, video, etc.). 

Competitive analysis is vital for discovering new opportunities, identifying successful strategies for growth, and outperforming your competitors. It helps you understand your competitors’ link-building strategies and either get inspired by them or see what they are doing wrong and not repeat their mistakes. 

Conclusion

Backlinking is as important for SEO as keyword research and content creation. Your SEO efforts won’t show real results without an effective backlink strategy. Thankfully, numerous online backlink checker tools like NinjaReports can help you streamline your backlinking efforts and collect actionable insights about your backlink profile.

EPAM launches Generative AI orchestration platform, DIAL

EPAM Systems, Inc. , a leading digital transformation services and product engineering company, today announced the launch of its AI-powered DIAL Orchestration Platform (Deterministic Integrator of Applications and LLMs), which merges the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) with deterministic code — offering a secure, scalable and customisable AI workbench to streamline and enhance AI-driven business solutions.

Produced by EPAM’s Reliable AI Lab (RAIL), DIAL helps enterprises speed their experimentation and innovation efforts across an extensive range of LLMs, AI-native Applications and Custom Add-ons as well as provides a practical approach for engineering business solutions with reliable AI capabilities.

The DIAL Platform offers a unified user interface, empowering businesses to leverage a spectrum of public and proprietary LLMs, Add-ons, APIs, Datastores and Business Applications. This integration promotes the development of novel enterprise assets that co-exist seamlessly with an organisation’s existing workflows.

Moreover, Applications and Add-ons can be implemented through diverse approaches, encompassing LangChain, LLamaIndex, Semantic Kernel or custom code — all within an integrated, secure and scalable framework. The DIAL Platform aggregates multi-cloud assets libraries including components, routing, rate-limiting software, monitoring tools, load-balancing solutions and deployment scripts. This extensive, curated toolkit supports a wide range of business use cases and integration scenarios and offers approaches to significantly optimise the consumption of external LLMs.

“Since 2021, we have experimented with thousands of AI use cases, helping EPAM and our customers to identify and adopt Generative AI scenarios to power business transformation initiatives,” said Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at EPAM. “The learnings from these efforts have led us to design and engineer a platform that accelerates the cost-effective development, reliability testing and operations of AI-embedded business applications.”

“RAIL, as part of EPAM’s broader R&D initiatives, concentrates on creating accelerators and components that encompass a full scope of advanced technologies, including Generative AI. These are designed to expedite the implementation of enterprise-scale solutions, embodying our commitment to innovation and our vision for a transformative future, driven by cutting-edge technology,” – added Ilya Gorelik, Head of EPAM’s RAIL Lab.

In keeping with EPAM’s long-standing commitment to Open Source, portions of DIAL will be released under an Apache 2.0 licensing scheme as part of its launch. This initiative encourages responsible use, community innovation and the adoption of responsible AI enterprise standards within the industry.

To learn more about EPAM’s AI-powered DIAL Orchestration Platform, visit https://epam-rail.com.

GoMoWorld Adds 10 more Destination Plans, Connecting Irish Travellers to the World

GoMoWorld, a mobile app that provides international data through eSIMs, revolutionising the way Irish travellers stay connected abroad abroad, adds ten more destination plans, including Belize, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, French Antilles, French Polynesia, further expanding its global coverage.

According to the GoMoWorld team, the United States of America remains the most favoured destination for Irish GoMoWorld customers, constituting a staggering 45% of plans. This is followed by European destinations at 27% where ‘roam like home’ may not be available or if customers need a top up on their own roaming allowance.

With its value, coverage and simple setup GoMoWorld has become a go-to solution for data access while travelling overseas. Other top destinations include Canada and Australia, where soccer fans travelled to support the Irish soccer team in the World Cup. Irish globetrotters are also embracing the app in other locations like Korea, Israel, Mexico, and Serbia.

Travellers are using GoMoWorld to travel and work abroad and also to represent Ireland on a global stage. Irish international footballer Amber Barrett, used GoMoWorld while playing in Australia, and shares her experience, stating, “The GoMoWorld app has been so useful and easy to use abroad. It’s so beneficial to be able to use data with no worries about heavy bills when you come home. It is very accessible and easy to add on data whenever it’s needed.”

Heloise Abraham, Director GoMoWorld: “At the heart of GoMoWorld’s success lie its remarkable features, which we believe is what sets it apart from traditional roaming options. Not only is it great value and easy to use but unlike traditional plans it doesn’t tie users down with contracts. The feedback we’re getting from our customers is that it’s so easy that you almost forget about it, meaning you can stay connected, wherever you are in the world.”

GoMoWorld offers data roaming plans starting at just €3.99 per month. The app connects users to local partner networks in over 160 countries, granting them easy access to the internet through reliable local mobile networks. With no physical SIM card required, GoMoWorld offers a hassle-free experience and GoMoWorld lets travellers roam with no long-term contracts. Users can download the app from the App Store or Google Play, select their destination, and install their eSIM.

Finalists Announced for 6th Annual Diversity In Tech Awards

The Diversity in Tech Awards finalists for 2023 have been announced today. The event in association with J.P. Morgan is set to take place on Wednesday, 27th September 2023, at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin. Over 400 executives from Ireland’s thriving international tech community will be in attendance. The evening’s programme will also include a keynote address by Norah Patten an Irish Aeronautical Engineer about her experience breaking the glass ceiling and a panel discussion entitled The ROI of DEI: Driving Business Profitability through Diversity and Inclusion featuring Steven Fuller of Race In STEM, Angelika Sharygina of Mindguardian, Kyran O’Mahoney of IA Labs and a representative of J. P Morgan.

Since launching in 2018, The Diversity in Tech Awards has highlighted the shift in companies making workplaces more diverse and inclusive, whilst also recognising their efforts to narrow the gender gap. This has been achieved through celebrating Irish women who are driving IT excellence, innovation, leadership and overall success in the tech industry.

This year, in recognition for the efforts of promoting diversity and narrowing the gender gap, the awards have been split into two categories, Diversity in Tech and Women in Tech.

Please see finalists and categories below:

Diversity categories and finalists

  • Diversity Role Model Award (sponsored by IAS Integral Ad Science) – Accenture (Dublin), Amnexis (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Merck (Dublin), NCBI – Working for people with Sight Loss (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Trinnovo Group (United Kingdom).

  • LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award – Amazon Web Services (United States), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Experian Ltd (United Kingdom), Greenhouse Software (Dublin), Microsoft Ireland (United Kingdom), Oracle EMEA Ltd.(Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

  • Disability inclusion Award (sponsored by Carelon Global Solutions) – CPL (Dublin), Employers for Change, The Open Doors Initiative (Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)

  • Cultural Inclusion Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), LinkedIn Ireland (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Health & Wellness Award – Axonista Ltd (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), EY (Dublin), LearnUpon (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Tata Consultancy Services (Dublin)

  • Social Impact Award (sponsored by ESB) – Chainlink Labs (United Kingdom), Deloitte (Dublin), Innovate Communities (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Diverse Company of the Year (sponsored by Oracle) – CPL (Dublin), eBay(Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fiserv (Dublin), Google (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Salesforce Ireland (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)

 

Women In Tech categories and finalists

  • Tech Leadership Award (sponsored by FTI Consulting) – Fiserv (Dublin), Inclusio (Dublin), KPMG (United Kingdom), Meta (Saudi Arabia), Microsoft (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Vodafone Ireland (Dublin)

  • Entrepreneurship Award (sponsored by Fiserv)- EudaOrg (Dublin), Online Buzzing (Dublin), Platform55 (Dublin), ProMotion Rewards (Dublin), shareclub (Dublin), Technological University Dublin (Dublin)

  • Digital Transformation Award – Dell (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Citi (United Kingdom), EY (Dublin), J.P. Morgan Chase (United Kingdom) Meta (Saudi Arabia)

  • Trailblazer Award – Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Rent the Runway (Dublin), Johnson & Johnson (Dublin), Meta (Dublin), Mission Unstoppable (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)

  • Young Female STEM Pioneer (sponsored by Mongo DB) – CodLad(Dublin), EY (Dublin), Open College Network (United Kingdom), University College Dublin (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

  • Rising Star Award – ESB (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Galvia (Galway), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), Revolut (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Data Scientist Award (sponsored by J.P. Morgan) – CodLad (Dublin), Ericsson (Dublin), EY (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)

  • Mentorship Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Deloitte Ireland (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), IADT (Dublin), IBM (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Verizon Connect (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

Finalists for the Diversity in Tech Awards are chosen by a judging panel from a wide range of corporate, not-for-profit and consultancy organisations. Some of this year’s judges include Erica Ryan – Regional VP of MongoDB, Lorraine Deschamps – Head of Corporate Citizenship with Fiserv, Gráinne Bryan – Senior Managing Director of Technology with FTI Consulting, Vessy Tasheva – Founder & CEO of Vessy.com and Sheree Atcheson – Global Diversity & Inclusion Senior Exec with Valtech.

The Diversity in Tech Awards Programme also hosts the Grace Hopper Award along with the Diversity Impact Award sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services. The DIA accolade recognises not-for-profit organisations that have demonstrated exceptional initiative to promote inclusion in the workplace. The Grace Hopper Award honours a female STEM professional whose exceptional achievements and outstanding contributions have made a lasting impact on technology, society, and their profession.

To see the full list of finalists, please see HERE.

Announcing the finalists, Tracey Carney, Managing Director of the Diversity in Tech Awards said: “We are extremely excited to bring the Diversity in Tech Awards back to the RDS this year. Since the awards were created in 2018 as the Women in Tech Awards, the event focused on promoting better balance in tech. In 2020, we pivoted to the Diversity in Tech Awards, and while continuing to keep women in tech as a core part of the agenda, it has grown into a programme celebrating all facets of diversity within the tech industry. The event is not only about celebrating excellence, but also about sharing knowledge and experience. The calibre of finalists this year is exceptional, and we can’t wait to congratulate each and every one of the amazing finalists joining us in September.”

GreenTechHQ announces AI for business workshops

Wexford based Sustainability Innovation Hub, GreenTechHQ has introduced a series of AI workshops to unlock the power of AI for businesses.

Presented by GreenTechHQ resident AI expert Rory Caldicott it is an opportunity for attendees to equip themselves with the knowledge and tools to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving business landscape.

Almost one tenth of Irish adults have used ChatGPT for work purposes according to research by Digital Business Ireland. The study found that 18 per cent of all Irish adults have used the artificial intelligence platform, split 10 per cent for personal use and 8 per cent for work purposes. Findings were extrapolated from the most recent Digital Insights research commissioned by Digital Business Ireland, a representative body for online businesses, based on a national representative sample, collected from a pool of over 30,000 panellists.

“In a world driven by data, those who master AI will navigate the future with foresight, elevate efficiency, and sculpt success.  GreenTechHQ hopes to shine a light into a relatively new digital world which is rapidly improving.  Our aim at GreenTechHQ is to support start-ups and SMEs through innovation, focusing on sustainability and leading of financially viable solutions.  With AI lies an additional key to shaping future successes now” said GreenTechHQ founder Ed Murphy

The workshops are an ideal opportunity to stay updated with the latest advancements in AI and how businesses are leveraging this technology to their advantage. Attendees can gain insights into the success stories of AI implementations and discover the transformative potential for their own enterprises.

Workshops are perfect for business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals from all industries looking to harness the power of AI to drive growth and competitive advantage. No prior technical knowledge is required; the content is designed to be accessible and valuable for all.

Course presenter, Rory Caldicott “The future of AI holds endless possibilities.  This workshop delves into the latest trends and predictions, empowering one to make informed decisions that will future-proof your business”

Register online at greentechhq.com

Tech Review – Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE Soundbar

The Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE is the fourth in the series from the company making it slip into a different price bracket so what we have here is a product that suits ones needs when it comes to sound, size and features and the case here there is no subwoofer with this one meaning less space taken up but it is slightly larger than others in the range and with all that in mind this still has plenty of ports and connectivity options that caters for just about anyone and not forgetting the RGB lights built in.

The build quality is excellent here again and it is a familiar affair when it comes to the layout of the I/Os and buttons which makes it good for existing users per say to change up or down their current models, for someone new buying this at its price and target market there will be no issues at all with the product. Check out the unboxing below before you read on if you are a first timer and have decided to go for this one.  You can see the Stage 360 here and the Katana V2X here which was our last model to test and sit nicely in line with this one we have now. There is many other models to find on site if you want to have a look.

Unboxing and Walkthrough – Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE

 

 

How does it sound then, hard to call over video but we have a video review below and in short this is excellent and almost up there with the last model and for me this is ideal for anyone who has not ventured into the soundbar game which is now popular, I have an expensive TV  and one for gaming which was not cheap and you expect decent speakers but no, rubbish and downward firing which is still a feature when you buy a TV today and this is why soundbars are popular. Again a caveat here is where your IR port is on TV and soundbars usually block most of them but you can prop up your TV legs if required or fix the speaker the a wall with a bracket mine luckily enough allows me to use the remote but sometimes it is a pain.

The sound is great and that is all that matter I have tried and test with my Phone TV and gaming console and the result is the same optimal audio performance, no lag latency noted which I have notice this being an issue in the past with some soundbars again though this is with streaming and depending on your tv with some have the option to add delay and yes me having and expensive TV still has not got this feature but I am glad to say there is NO lag latency when streaming.

Best placed on your floor or on your TV stand and tuned up to the max sit back and enjoy the thumping bass and sound if your floors are wooden of course and it vibrates through the couch, not only this is coupled with Super X-Fi technology, 5.1 virtual surround capabilities, and versatile connectivity options, the Sound Blaster Katana SE is the ideal soundbar for gamers, movie lovers, and music enthusiasts who want an elevated audio experience without compromising on space or audio quality. If you have not yet tried this or a pair of compatible headphones you do not know what you are missing..

At the end of the day this soundbar delivers and all fronts, there is cheaper out there the price might put some off but from someone who has tested countless soundbars over the years this is worth the investment as it can be used in many scenarios and not just your TV, it is a one stop for sound quality and connectivity options and it is portable around the home or if needs be the office and in my case it does them all including my external office out my back which I often use to get away from the noise and just chill out.

Sound Blaster Katana SE is priced at UK£299.99, US$299.99, EU€329.99 and is available at Creative.com.For more information, visit www.creative.com/katanase

Video Review

Irish streaming spend reaches €1.3BN

Pure Telecom, Ireland’s high-speed broadband and telecoms provider, today announces the results of its inaugural Connected Lives survey, which found that the amount being spent by consumers in Ireland on video streaming has risen to €1.3BN annually from €967M in 2021 – an increase of over €330M.

The nationally representative survey of 1,004 adults in Ireland was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom. It explored the potential impact of new and possible crackdowns on password-sharing by the world’s leading streaming providers, whereby additional charges will be applied to those who share passwords with people outside of their household. The survey found that 26% of video streaming subscribers in Ireland are sharing their subscription passwords with someone outside of their household, indicating that the streaming spend could increase as providers introduce additional charges for password sharing.

Pure Telecom’s research found that consumers in Ireland are feeling the pinch from having multiple video streaming accounts. The survey found that on average, adults in Ireland are paying for 2.4 video streaming services each. The average adult currently spends €28.26 per month on video streaming subscriptions, versus €22.57 per month in 2021. Gen X (adults between the ages of 43 and 58) are the highest spenders by generation, spending €33.36 per month on video streaming services.

Many are now choosing to reduce the number of video streaming services they pay for to save money. Some 38% of those who pay for video streaming services report to have cancelled at least one subscription in the last 12 months to cut costs. Meanwhile, 17% said they have cancelled to get better content elsewhere, while 16% said they switched off as they had too many subscriptions already.

To alleviate the financial burden of subscription fees, 28% of adults would be willing to watch ads on their chosen video streaming channel if it meant they could get the content for free, while 14% of adults said that they already use video streaming channels with ads to get content for free.

Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said: “Ireland’s population has well and truly embraced video streaming and the market is continuing to grow – now far surpassing the €1BN mark in annual total consumer expenditure – and the trend of password-sharing that our research uncovered could see this rise considerably again. People know that they can’t get all of the top shows from just one provider and the majority are prepared (even if it is reluctantly) to pay out of fear of missing out.

“As ever, people value a good quality product being delivered at a fair price, which has made for a highly competitive marketplace. With an abundance of choice at their fingertips, cost-conscious viewers are more than happy to hop between providers if they think there is better content elsewhere, while others are prepared to cut back on their monthly subscriptions to save money.

“Consumers always want to know that they are getting bang for their buck, particularly at a time when people are watching what they spend more closely. At Pure Telecom, we enable seamless streaming at the best value and with the best customer care, ensuring our customers only ever need to worry about how many subscriptions is too many!”

HONOR Announces Launch of the HONOR 90 Series in Ireland

Global technology brand HONOR today announced the launch of the HONOR 90 and HONOR 90 Lite in Ireland. Featuring an impressive 200MP Main Camera and an industry-leading Quad-Curved Floating Display with eye-comfort technology, the HONOR 90 packs groundbreaking hardware and software to empower the always-on generation to capture and share their vibes in outstanding detail. The HONOR 90 Lite is a stylish all-rounder, boasting an incredible camera system, display, and a range of smart features.

Nick Kyzer, Sales Director at HONOR UK & Ireland said: “Bringing our game-changing product portfolio to Ireland is something we are committed to delivering. With the success of the HONOR 70 Lite launched in Ireland earlier this year, we knew the HONOR 90 and 90 Lite were something the Irish market would love.”

He continued: “We’re thrilled Ireland are showing great support for the HONOR brand, and we look forward to continuing our growth in the market with strategic partners like Three Ireland and Harvey Norman.”

 HONOR 90: a Powerful and Versatile Camera for Capturing Stunning Photos and Videos

The triple camera system consists of a 200MP Main Camera with a 1/1.4-inch sensor, a 12 MP ultra-wide and macro camera with a 112° field of view, and a 2MP Depth Camera that helps the camera accurately gauge distance. Supporting multi-frame fusion, a noise reduction algorithm and pixel binning to achieve the light-capturing performance that is equivalent to having large 2.24µm pixels (16-in-1), the 200MP Main Camera produces excellent high dynamic range (HDR) photos and detailed, bright shots in low light situations.

HONOR 90 also introduces the new Portrait Mode, including 2X zoom portraits to deliver imaging results that better highlight the subject in frame. Portrait mode has also been upgraded to help users effortlessly create exceptional portraits with well-defined facial features, accurate skin tones and an authentic bokeh effect that naturally blends the background with the subject.

At the front, the 50MP Front Camera captures stunning selfies with exceptional detail, making the HONOR 90 an ideal choice for budding and seasoned content creators.

Designed to help vloggers streamline their workflows, the HONOR 90 also employs artificial intelligence (AI) for video denoising and video mode recommendations, as well as for AI Vlog Assistant that enables users to generate a social media-ready 15-second video with just a few taps. The HONOR 90 achieves omnidirectional noise reduction with a signal-to-noise ratio of 20dB, which is close to a professional recorder, allowing users to capture clear human voices without background noise.

Immersive Viewing Experience on Display

Equipped with a 6.7-inch Quad-Curved Floating Display the HONOR 90 supports a high resolution of 2664×1200, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and up to 1.07 billion colors, bringing visual content to life in stunning colors and vivid clarity. The HONOR 90 also supports a peak HDR brightness of 1600 nits, allowing for optimum display readability, even under bright light.

The display is fast and responsive with an adaptive screen refresh rate of up to 120Hz, this is dynamically adjusted according to the displayed content to strike the optimal balance between visual fluidity and battery life. With HDR10+ support and HDR certifications from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the HONOR 90 ensures users can enjoy an exceptional multimedia experience in any setting.

Reflecting HONOR’s commitment to human-centric technology, the HONOR 90 is equipped with industry-leading eye comfort features. Equipped with TÜV Rheinland’s Flicker Free Certification and achieving the risk-free dimming level, the HONOR 90 is perfect for today’s content-hungry generation. The display supports the industry’s highest Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming frequency of 3840Hz, effectively minimizing the strain it puts on users’ eyes when it is set at low brightness. The display also features Dynamic Dimming that simulates natural light to alleviate eye fatigue, and HONOR’s Circadian Night Display technology which filters blue light and promotes natural melatonin secretion to improve user sleep quality at night.

Sleek and Stylish Design 

Inspired by haute couture and luxury jewelry, the HONOR 90 exudes class with its 7.8mm thin and 183g lightweight body. The smooth, rounded edges wrapping the smartphone make it as much a joy to hold as to behold, and the Deeply Reinforced Glass provides users with peace of mind knowing their smartphone is built to last. At the rear, HONOR 90 features the iconic N Series classic Dual Ring Design, with rounded elements crafted with precise cutting techniques to produce a brilliant shine that adds an extra touch of elegance to the smartphone.

Incredible Battery Life Matched by Fast Performance 

The HONOR 90 is embedded with a large 5000mAh battery to support all-day use. On a single charge, the smartphone can provide up to 19.5 hours of continuous local video streaming. When its battery is low, users can take it back up to 45% with 66W HONOR SuperCharge in just 15 minutes. Fast and battery efficient, the HONOR 90 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition, which has a 20% better GPU and 30% better AI performance compared to its predecessor. The internal temperature is kept in check by a 147% larger vapor chamber, facilitating efficient heat dissipation that allows the HONOR 90 to stay cool.

A Truly Personalized Experience with HONOR MagicOS 7.1

Running the latest Android 13-based HONOR MagicOS 7.1, the HONOR 90 packs a raft of enhanced smart features like Magic Text which intelligently recognises text on an image and allows users to directly perform actions with important information.

Pricing and Availability

The HONOR 90 is available in Midnight Black from both Three and Harvey Norman and will be available in two storage variations, 8+256GB and 12+512GB.

At Three, the HONOR 90 12+512GB will be available from €40 a month with €139 upfront, with a limited offer of €100 off on the upfront cost for those switching over to Three in August and September. In the same period, for €50 a month, Three are offering no upfront cost (usually €29). The HONOR 90 is also available with no upfront cost on the €60 a month airtime plan. The HONOR 90 12+512GB will also be available to purchase SIM-free from Three for €529.

The HONOR 90 8+256GB is also available to purchase from Harvey Norman for €499 RRP in Midnight Black.

HONOR 90 Lite: an affordable all-rounder for content aficionados

HONOR 90 Lite, part of the HONOR 90 series family – a premium mid-range series that is made for creators – will be available in Ireland from today. The HONOR 90 Lite is a stylish all-rounder, boasting an incredible camera system, display, and a range of smart features.

Awesome Camera with Stellar Viewing Experience

HONOR 90 Lite features a rear 100MP Main Camera with a f/1.9 aperture, a 5MP Wide & Depth Camera and 2MP Macro Camera for capturing stunning landscape shots and intimate closeups. For selfie-lovers, the 16MP Front Camera delivers captivating self-portraits with defined features and enhanced colours. Additionally, the HONOR 90 Lite’s 6.7-inch Edgeless Display features an adaptive refresh rate of up to 90Hz, providing users with a buttery smooth visual experience. The display comes with TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification, and like HONOR 90, supports a range of HONOR developed human-centric eye care solutions including Dynamic Dimming and Circadian Night Display.

Fast 5G and Long-Lasting Battery

The HONOR 90 Lite is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6020 5G system and a 4500mAh battery. Users who enjoy keeping their media always accessible can take full advantage of the 8GB Memory and large 256GB storage drive, keeping up to 57,808 pictures, 22,322 songs or 892 HD videos downloaded. The HONOR 90 Lite is also equipped with HONOR RAM Turbo (8GB+5GB), an HONOR technology that moves a portion of flash memory to RAM, meaning 8GB RAM can be increased to 13GB RAM.

Pricing and Availability

The HONOR 90 Lite is available in Midnight Black and will be priced at €289 RRP from Three. Customers who switch over to Three from another network in August and September will benefit from €50 off, making the HONOR 90 Lite just €239. The HONOR 90 Lite also comes with no upfront cost on all pay monthly tariffs.

For more information, please visit HONOR online store at www.hihonor.com/uk or

3.ie/Honor90

 

Unemployment continues to fall to 4.1%, but wage pressures may be past their peak

The main unemployment rate was 4.1% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 4.2% in June and down from a level of 4.2% twelve months ago. The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed fell by 3,600 in July but was up by 100 in the past 12 months.

Jack Kennedy, senior economist at global job site Indeed, comments on the latest CSO data:

“The labour market remains incredibly tight with the unemployment rate at 4.1% — the joint-record lowest since 2001 according to the latest revised figures— and is proving resilient amidst global challenges. The continuing low level of Ireland’s unemployment rate reflects the culmination of concerted efforts by both the public and private sectors to foster a robust and sustainable economy.

Recent data from Eurostat shows that the Eurozone economy returned to growth in the second quarter, as the euro area grew 0.3 per cent in the three months to July, after stagnating in the previous quarter. Unemployment in the eurozone also dipped to a new all-time low of 6.4%. This is an indication that the economy is stabilising; however, it is essential to remain cautious and vigilant.

Economic success is not without challenges, and as the labour market remains at near full employment, the coming months could reveal sector squeezes.

Pay pressures remain strong and workers will push for higher wages to compensate for high inflation. That said, wage pressures may be past their peak. The Indeed Wage Tracker, based on advertised pay for new hires, showed a further easing to 4.3% y/y in June, down from a peak of 5.5% in March. 

This corresponds with a gradual softening in employers’ hiring appetite, though the latter remains strong. The latest figures from Indeed show that job postings on Indeed Ireland are 30% above the pre-pandemic baseline as of July 2023 (Fig. 1).

The country’s commitment to nurturing a highly skilled and educated workforce has bolstered productivity and competitiveness. As we remain at full employment, now is the time to future-proof the Irish economy. Prioritising various educational routes, including apprenticeships, and investing in sustainable career options for young people who might otherwise seek to emigrate, can ensure our highly talented workforce remains a key driver of economic growth.