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.
An Post Mobile has launched ‘€15 Unlimited’, the new pre-pay offer with unlimited data, calls and texts to any network for as little as €15 per month. Customers switching to An Post Mobile can avail of their first month for free with a top up of just €15 each month thereafter. The ‘€15 Unlimited’ deal also offers customers excellent connectivity with 99% 4G population coverage and the benefit of no contracts and no bills.
For anyone in search of Christmas gift ideas – whether it’s a handset for the chatty Dad who needs the unlimited calls, a phone for the niece who always needs more data or for anyone who just fancies switching because €15 a month for unlimited calls, texts and 4G data is great value, An Post Mobile offers a range of quality phones at price points to suit every pocket including the Samsung A21s for €129.95 as part of the ‘€15 Unlimited’ package for new customers.
Additional handsets in the‘€15 Unlimited’ offer with discounts on selected handsets for customers who switch their number include:
MINT + iPhone X (64GB) from €549.00
MINT + iPhone 8 (64GB) from €299.00
MINT + iPhone 7 (32GB) from €199.00
Huawei Y6 2019 from €99.95
Alcatel 20.03 only €39.95
Additional An Post mobile customer benefits include the new Auto Top-Up service which allows customers to automatically buy credit on a day of their choice each month.
Joining An Post mobile has never been easier – join online at www.anpost.com/mobile or at a local post office.
For further information on An Post Mobile’s Christmas products, pop into your local post office or visit: https://www.anpost.com/Mobile
Ohana ZERO suicide has today officially launched its Twenty2Zero campaign to break the stigma associated with suicide and encourage open conversations.
Ohana ZERO suicide has partnered with ZSA UK to bring the suicide awareness training to the people across the island of Ireland by empowering them to identify suicidal behaviours, and to support those feeling vulnerable or suffering from mental health problems.
Twenty2Zero aims to end the stigma associated with suicide, encourage people to talk about the issue, and to intervene if loved ones, friends or strangers are believed to be at risk. This free online suicide awareness training can be accessed via their website at www.ohana.ie and it is aimed at people from all walks of life.
Ohana ZERO suicide is launching in the year 2020 with the goal to reach zero suicide. Sports and tv personalities were at the launch to support the initiative. Bernard Jackman, Irish rugby international and ex professional Head Coach; Sarah Torrans, Irish hockey international; Tania Rosser, former Leinster and Irish international rugby player; Brendan Maher, Tipperary hurler; Lauren Magee, Dublin footballer; Alan Quinlan, former Munster and Irish international rugby player, and Peter Finn, Home Rescue builder and TV personality were today at the Irish Museum of Modern Art to officially launch the Twenty2Zero campaign.
Su Carty, a Director of Ohana ZERO suicide, commenting on the announcement said, “Suicide is a preventable death. Our goal is to empower communities and individuals throughout Ireland to help by being alert to the warning signs and helping those who are feeling suicidal to stay safe. Our suicide awareness training, with the simple tagline ‘Show you Care, Ask the Question, Make the Call’, is designed to provide every person with the basic skills that will help to reduce suffering and save lives. By taking this short 20 to 40 minute training we could be just minutes away from zero suicide.”
Actress, writer and comedian Eilish O’Carroll in support of the initiative said, “I am pleased to support this fantastic initiative. Suicide prevention is everybody’s business, both locally and nationally. I can vouch that those taking this training will leave equipped with the tools to engage with those at risk. We hope business leaders and the community in general assist us to raise awareness and help save a life”.
The announcement comes amidst experts’ concerns over isolation, anxiety and other mental health concerns intensified by COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown, reducing people’s social contact with others including family members and friends.
Ohana ZERO suicide is asking people to lend their social media feeds to the cause. The time has come to not only talk about suicide as a public health issue but to start taking action. Ohana ZERO suicide is asking people and organisations to help spread the word about the free suicide prevention training using the hashtags #Twenty2Zero and #OhanaZeroSuicide.
To keep up to date with Ohana ZERO Suicide’s latest news stay tuned to the social media feeds:
Instagram: @Ohana_zero_suicide Facebook: OhanaZEROsuicide Twitter: @ohanazero LinkedIn: Ohana Zero Suicide
DxO PhotoLab 4, the world’s most advanced photo-editing software in terms of image processing launched two months ago, lets users harness the full potential of the new Apple M1 chip powering the latest generation of the Mac Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The newest version of the software, DxO PhotoLab 4.1, also offers better colour control through its improved HSL tool and support for five new cameras.
Three to Five Times Faster Performance Compared to the Most Recent 13” MacBook Pro and Intel Mac Mini
The architecture of the latest Apple M1 chip has been optimised with image processing and artificial intelligence algorithms in mind. It’s only natural then that the extraordinary image quality made possible by DxO PhotoLab 4’s DxO DeepPRIME image processing technology is now dramatically more efficient on the latest generation of Mac Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.
Users can now process their images three to five times faster compared to the most recent 13” MacBook Pro and Mac Mini for nearly half the cost—and in silence. Images are exported at 1.5 mpix/s, which is faster than the previous version of DxO PRIME. In fact, the Apple M1 chip greatly reduces the time it takes to complete all edits. Because the technology applies a denoising and a demosaicing algorithm simultaneously, the quality of photos (including low-ISO images) processed with DxO DeepPRIME is unmatched. When paired with Mac computers outfitted with the M1 chip, the technology can be applied seamlessly every time.
DxO DeepPRIME has Revolutionized Denoising and RAW Conversion Technology
DxO DeepPRIME is based on the latest artificial intelligence technologies and significantly improves noise reduction while also delivering more effective demosaicing. The resulting photo quality is nothing short of spectacular, especially for photos taken in low light conditions that require brightening certain areas, photos with small pixels, and photos taken with early-generation cameras.
To demosaic and reduce noise in RAW images, DxO DeepPRIME was trained using several billion samples. Since its founding in 2003, DxO has earned an international reputation for calibrating hundreds of cameras and thousands of lenses using a protocol that is more comprehensive than any other in the industry. DxO has measured the distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, loss of sharpness, and digital noise generated by each equipment combination and in every situation with an extraordinary level of precision.
Using a traditional approach, these two operations are performed separately, with each one introducing artifact that degrade the quality of the other. With deep learning, DxO DeepPRIME has adopted a holistic approach that combines the two steps into one in order to deliver exceptional performance.
Improved HSL Tool
DxO PhotoLab 4’s HSL (Hue–Saturation–Luminance) Tool features an exclusive adjustment mode based on the colour wheel called DxO ColorWheel. With this tool, you can select a colour range from eight different channels, fine-tune the value, select a replacement colour, and adjust your transitions as much as you like. DxO PhotoLab 4.1 now displays a mask in the image being edited that lets you instantly identify the selected colour area. The result is a more seamless user experience and even more opportunities to unleash your creativity. The Uniformity slider lets you adjust colour variations within a specific range. The Saturation and Luminance sliders also offer an incredible degree of flexibility, especially when converting a colour image to black and white and when creating partially desaturated images.
New Camera Support
DxO PhotoLab 4.1 continues to add the latest cameras to the list of equipment it supports. The program now supports the Nikon Z 6II, the Sony A7C and A7S III, and the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1H. A new drone, the DJI Mavic Air 2, has also been added to the optical modules database.
Price and Availability
The ESSENTIAL and ELITE editions of DxO PhotoLab 4 (PC and Mac) are now available for download on DxO’s website (https://shop.dxo.com/) for the following prices until December 31, 2020:
DxO PhotoLab 4 ESSENTIAL Edition: £86.99 instead of £112
DxO PhotoLab 4 ELITE Edition: £129.99 instead of £169
DxO PhotoLab 4 users can download this update for free. You do not need a subscription to use DxO PhotoLab 4. You can install the program on two computers with the DxO PhotoLab 4 ESSENTIAL Edition or on three computers with the DxO PhotoLab 4 ELITE Edition. Photographers with a license for DxO OpticsPro or PhotoLab 3 can purchase an upgrade license for DxO PhotoLab 4 by signing into their customer account on https://shop.dxo.com/login_upgrade.php/. A fully functional, one-month trial version of DxO PhotoLab 4 is available on the DxO website: https://www.dxo.com/dxo-photolab/download/.
Award-winning Irish software company Pharmapod, has announced today that it is in the final stages of developing a cloud-based solution for the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine globally. This important work is supported by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), who will continue to collaborate as Pharmapod makes this solution available on an international basis for healthcare professionals involved in the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The system will streamline the process of administering the vaccine by allowing patients to book their vaccination appointment, providing real-time information to healthcare professionals and their organisations, as well as businesses and public health bodies.
According to Pharmapod’s founder and Chief Executive, Leonora O’Brien, the company hopes to have the vaccination system up and running in line with the release of the Covid-19 vaccination to the market; ‘’our vaccination system has been in development since the beginning of the pandemic and we are working alongside partners such as the International Pharmaceutical Federation to bring it through the final stages. Essentially, the system will streamline the end-to-end process for patients and those administrating the vaccine. This will allow the public to easily book their vaccine via any device, schedule multiple doses, complete their eligibility criteria and provide details of any side-effects that have occurred. The data will flow securely from patient to administrator to national stakeholders and governmental organisations. Public health authorities will be able to receive real time, anonymous information about how the vaccine rollout is working. By simplifying the entire process, the solution promotes vaccine uptake, minimises the time required to administer each vaccine and provides critical data on side-effects so that corrective actions may be put in place as required”.
Pharmapod currently provides a number of cloud-based, healthcare specific solutions for pharmacies and the Long-Term Care sector. Its clinical services module facilitate the delivery of services such as flu vaccines and emergency contraception in pharmacies. It is the leading cloud-based software for driving efficiencies and reducing Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) in community pharmacies and long-term care globally.
60% of all Canadian Pharmacies use Pharmapod’s system to minimise medication errors and improve best practice. Pharmapod has operations in the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
Leonora went on to say; ‘’Our solutions and platform are designed by healthcare professionals. The vaccination system will also be able to spot potential problems in the rollout such as shortages of vaccines, uptake resistance, people not showing up for vaccinations, regional uptake comparisons, etc. It will also give patients notifications about their appointments and provide advice and information. The idea is to make everything easier and quicker for both the patient, and the healthcare professional as well as deliver the required service performance data to national stakeholders. Pharmapod has experience in developing large scale systems of this nature and we are in discussions with a number of governments around the world in relation to our system.’’
Pharmapod was established by Leonora O’Brien in 2013, a fully qualified pharmacist with over 25 years’ experience in the pharmacy sector. Businesses, pharmacies, care homes, hospitals and other healthcare organisations, may pre-register their interest in the solution here: https://www.pharmapodhq.com/app_register.
PowerA, a leader in enhancing interactive entertainment with officially licensed gaming accessories, launched the MOGA XP5-X Plus Bluetooth Controller for Mobile and Cloud Gaming. As the newest addition to PowerA’s popular MOGA line licensed for Xbox, the XP5-X Plus delivers the versatility to play Xbox games from the cloud on your mobile phone or tablet with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The MOGA XP5-X Plus is available now for $69.99.
Mobile Gaming Like Never Before
The MOGA XP5-X Plus delivers optimized controls for cloud games in the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library on your compatible mobile phone or tablet. Whether it’s supported titles in the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library or Fortnite on Android, gamers will experience breathtaking mobile gaming with the ergonomic design and familiarity of an Xbox-inspired controller. The advanced gaming buttons allow players to map two additional buttons on the fly to gain the competitive edge.
Extended Gaming Sessions Wherever and Whenever
The integrated power bank and optimally balanced phone clip gives players the best position to take down their opponents at home or on-the-go. The internal 3000mAh rechargeable battery delivers MOGA Power Boost by extending gameplay and can be used as a Power Bank to charge an Android mobile device while playing. The premium game clip designed to fit Android devices gives players to explore hundreds of controller-enabled games.
Mappable Advanced Gaming Buttons
Keep your thumbs on the analog sticks and gain a competitive advantage by mapping two buttons on the back of the controller for adjusting button assignments on-the-fly between matches. With the MOGA XP5-X Plus, you’ll be well equipped to take on any gaming challenge thrown at you, whether it’s a high-octane firefight or an intense race to the finish line.
I have never liked CEX for a simple reason, they cash in and sell for extortionate prices on second hand goods and not only this being a retail outlet they are profiteering on the latest gadget this Christmas which is the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Recently this also caused an issue on local selling sites like Adverts and Done Deal who to be fair did get proactive on the topic and refused to take new advertising on the consoles and tool down any that managed to make it up. As we can see they want 875 and 750 euros respectively for the two new consoles below
Quite a few people emailed me today regarding this and to see what these bastards are doing it is nothing short on preying on families this Christmas. So don’t give them a penny and I wonder what the CCPC thinks about this as I have informed them and waiting on a response and will revert here once I hear from them.
The global spread of Covid-19 has seen criminals exploit the public’s fear of the pandemic, with the number of UK spam calls surging 159% in the first ten months of the year.
In the largest piece of research of its kind global analysis of 145bn calls and text messages received by users of the identification and spam blocking appTruecaller revealed the UK is now the fourth most spammed country in Europe – and seventh in the world.
Other key UK findings include:
– Scammers are a rising threat
Scammers accounted for over a third (36%) of the total number of spam calls – and between April and October, scam calls jumped by 59%.
– Pesky salesmen
Sales calls accounted for just under a quarter (23%) of total spam calls – and since April they have risen by nearly half (48%)
– Other culprits
People took unwanted calls from people working in insurance (22%), financial services (18%) and debt collection (1%)
“Besides the sheer nuisance value of receiving unwanted calls and texts, there’s clear evidence bad actors are exploiting the public’s fears about the pandemic,” said Kim Fai Kok, Director of Communications from Truecaller. “An increasingly common scam is being told you need to urgently pay for a COVID-19 test as you’ve been in contact with someone who has tested positive. They’re very convincing and manage to convince a lot of worried people to pass on their credit card details which are then used to defraud them of their money.”
Truecaller is also publishing analysis of the top 20 countries affected by spammer – the key findings include:
– Spam calls and messages fellduring the first few months of the global pandemic before rebounding to record an overall rise of 11.6%
– In the US, spam calls rose 56% rise, and it is now the second most spammed country (up from last year’s position of 8th)
– the problem is spreading across Europe. Hungary, Poland, Spain, UK, Ukraine, Germany, Romania, Greece and Belgium are now on the ‘top 20 list’ for the first time
– Last year’s report saw the top 10 countries dominated by the South American region. This year Chile, Peru and Colombia have seen a decrease in spam calls
– Like most workers, spammers take time off from work on weekends with most activity taking place during the working week
“This is the fourth edition of the Truecaller Insights Report, and what is noticeable is the significant shift in the countries that spammers are targeting,” said Kim Fai Kok, Director of Communications from Truecaller. “Across the world, bad actors and criminals are using technologies like robocalls to take advantage of the public’s uncertainties about the pandemic to send out record numbers of scam calls and messages.”
“As the virus spread exponentially earlier in the year, the number of spam calls and messages started to decrease globally around March and reached their lowest point in April when strict curfews and lock downs made it difficult for people to go to work.”
“However, rather than mitigating spam the pandemic only offered a brief respite to victims of scammers. Even though a large number of countries have re-entered lockdown in the latter part of 2020, this hasn’t affected global spam rates negatively. If anything, spammers have now adjusted to a COVID world.”
“Spam calls and texts are picking up again and have been increasing on average by 9.7% per month. For example, in October we detected a record high in terms of spam calls, driven by a 22% jump in activity compared to the pre-lockdown period.”
Certification Europe has today announced their partnership with Thrive.App, which has involved the development of an employee engagement and communications app ‘CE Connect’.
Certification Europe Ltd. is a leading accredited Certification Body based in Ireland with offices in the UK, Italy and Japan.
With dispersed teams, across different locations as well as multiple business units (Certification Services, Environmental & Inspectorate Division and Technical Services), Certification Europe needed a ‘central hub’ for sharing latest updates, urgent announcements, in particular regard to Covid-19 news, and also for making sure they continued to lift spirits with competitions, fundraisers, games, onboarding of new employees and celebrating birthdays before and during their move to remote working at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Employee engagement was even more necessary at this time than ever before.
Certificate Europe’s CEO, Michael Brophy:
“Thrive is a perfect fit for our needs. It was quick to implement, it was scalable, and most importantly it did not need specific technical expertise to set it up nor run it. We made a decision to implement the app and very quickly we were able to develop a large amount of content, test it and go-live all within 6 weeks and we have not looked back since.
Over the last 6 months of having CE Connect up and running, Certification Europe has definitely seen an increase in employee engagement. Through having a place to upload weekly update videos, run competitions, let users upload pictures, share comments and like different events, it has been excellent to have through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our Assessment Team have noticed a big change in employee engagement since the introduction of CE Connect. Having always worked remotely or on client sites, they feel there is more interaction between the teams now than ever before.
Overall, we have had a great experience working with Thrive and creating this app for our organisation and look forward to seeing how it grows over time.”
Holly Magill, Senior Innovation Executive and part of the Great Place to Work Team, added:
“Working from home can be isolating, and the app has helped everyone stay in the loop with what’s going on across all areas of the organisation. The company’s ‘Great Place to Work Team’ have been running competitions and fundraisers and the app has made it much easier to reach everyone in the organisation with the notification’s options and the wide range of content options we can include on posts.”
James Scott, CEO, Co-Founder of Thrive adds;
“We are delighted to add Certification Europe to our list of customers and will continue to support them during and beyond these challenging times.
We are on a mission to improve employee experience, everywhere and help as many organisations as we can to shift their communications from traditional methods such as printed newsletters, notice boards and team briefings to instant, secure, engaging mobile apps that helps every employee feel connected, recognised and supported in their role.”
With 2020 drawing to an end, Currys PC World have taken a look back on some of the most iconic and memorable TV moments of 2020..
David Attenborough appealed to the public to save our planet in his heartfelt documentary film A Life on Our Planet
Joe Exotic became an international sensation as Tiger King united millions over lockdown
Some of the top-rated TV shows of 2020 listed on JustWatch include the BBC’s I May Destroy You and Normal People, ITV’s Quiz, Netflix’s The Last Dance and the Queen’s Gambit, and Prime Video’s Little Fires Everywhere
With national lockdowns restricting us to our homes, TV has played a pivotal role in uniting the nation in 2020. While filming of new content ground to halt earlier in the year, fortunately many fixtures have returned, including reality TV favourites Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Bake Off and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here. These saw the first single-sex dance couple hit the ballroom (boxer Nicola Adams OBE and dancer Katya Jones), Peter Sawkins take the title of best British amateur baker, and BBC R1’s Jordan North go to his “happy place” aka Turf Moor (the home of Burnley FC) as part of a positive visualisation trick to get over his fear.
Plus, like always, there have been a number of TV blunders and hilarious moments to reflect back on. One of the funniest highlights includes a BBC news snippet featuring a child gate-crashing her mother’s video interview – something I’m sure a lot of home-workers can relate to. The video has now been viewed nearly 2 million times on the official BBC YouTube accounts. And talking of viral clips, a snippet taken from Celebrity Mastermind became a social media meme, after actress Amanda Henderson was asked the name of teenage environmentalist activist Greta Thunberg and cluelessly answered “Sharon”.
Other TV highlights of the year include:
Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips coins her iconic catchphrase “congrats hun” after she’s dumped by Callum Jones when he returns from Casa Amor with another girl
Rescue dog Kratu takes part in the rescue dog agility course at Crufts, only to run away with one of the poles he was supposed to jump over
