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.
Superior video experience for huddle and small conferencing rooms.
The CAM340+ is a portable high-quality HD intelligent camera that allows a user to communicate from anywhere. Compatible with all common applications, it connects to a computer via a single USB cable and provides a superior video communication experience.
With a versatile monitor mount, which can accommodate displays up to 4cm thick, easy-to-carry size, and durable construction, the CAM340+ gives users the flexibility to make any room or space a huddle room. A performance-quality multi-glass lens with deep focus and impressive 120° FOV gives an ultra-wide field for view video conferencing, allowing everyone at the table into a meeting with minimal distortion. An optional wall mount and remote control is available.
Meetings can be in 4K, giving a picture technology that quadruples the pixel count of Full HD, creating sharper images. With a 4X zoom, the CAM340+ scans the room with no moving parts and no loss of quality. AVer uses SONY EXMOR sensor, features ePTZ (electronic pan tilt zoom) and built-in microphone ideal for the huddle room and small conference room.
Once registered the CAM340+ carries a five-year warranty, considerably more than the industry norm and in line with AVer’s superior customer service.
Rene Buhay, AVer Europe Vice President of Sales & Marketing, comments: “The CAM340+ is the ultimate in huddle room cameras. No more people having to crane their necks to be in the picture or struggling to be heard. AVer makes conferencing easy.”
As I have mentioned on Twitter some while ago the product that arrived does not match the product in the description which was a pair of the said earbuds with a charge case but just one arrived in a shitty plastic pack with no English at all on the leaflet or instructions.
An amazon tech seller asked me to review a pair of true wireless earbuds, charge case and all. However this is what arrived. 😂😂😂😂 Last time I checked I'd two ears. Fucking lol. pic.twitter.com/Hgsos9TfCa
— Jim O Brien Tech 👨💻techbuzzireland.com (@techbuzzinfo) July 8, 2019
Now I do understand people do use just one earbud and you can buy such but this has vanished from Amazon at the time of post and there is so many variations or rebrands of these they are easy to find as PAIRS with or without the charge case,in most instances WITH the charging case.
Let’s not mistake the rip off of Apple Airpods which are a rip off in price anyway these are clearly just that with other colour options available but there is so many types labelled as with other names and brands of course it came from a china seller which might explain I can’t find it anymore on Amazon even from the link of the seller I was actually surprised it arrived in the first place.
There is One button on the side that in fairness is clicky and you can find it easily blindly and you know you have pressed it and it boasts a silver trim at the end and very light and it does stay in my ear oddly enough and a small LED light for connection and charge status but how does it perform? Well it does not do a whole lot unfortunately and at least they are honest in the main features section listed below. The sound was loud enough and ok on normal levels but after that forget it, tinny central is all I can say muffled and distortion. Calls the same and broke up after about ten feet away from my phone or laptop. Battery life is horrific with between 1 -1.5 hours.
It might be a good throwaway piece for whatever reason there is to have one here you can do so with lots of tech today like 10-20 euro dumbphones but other than that I can’t recommend it at all,well they might be good for younger kids if you do not want to splash out they have nice colour variants I won’t even bother listing the product on other sites where PAIRS are also available but none on their own I have found but watch out for variants with similar names there is plenty of them and if the seller happens to read this, I have two questions. 1- Should I got two and a charge case? 2 – Where is your Amazon listing gone?
This is what I was meant to get via the email sent for review..
Perhaps the experience might have been better should I have got an actual pair and the charge case but on this basis if you do get offered a one pack offer,ignore it like the plague. I might also suggest if you do buy the advertised products with case included ask the seller and check their feedback on respective sites where available. If an amazon seller has a genuine pair they want tested do get in touch as I feel this one seller listing these as the name they did leaves a question mark for others who have the item on sale or perhaps branded with another variant like the i7s for example it is not fair.
Similar on offer to beware of with high cost in Dublin stores..Can be bought for 10 euros online.
Main Features:
High fidelity music for you – NOT TRUE
English voice prompt, convenient for operation TRUE
One key to switch songs and answer / end call – TRUE
Works with all kinds of Bluetooth devices ( supports iOS and Android system ) TRUE
1.5 – 2H continuous playing time, longer duration than the most prevailing headsets – FAIR ENOUGH.
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Data hosting industry initiative, Host In Ireland, has teamed up with the Native Woodland Trust and the Irish National Biodiversity Centre as part of a long-term initiative to help save Irish bees. Today’s launch will see over 100 members and associates of Host In Ireland plant indigenous Irish trees in County Wicklow to help create safe habitat and food for bees.
One-third of Ireland’s bee species are threatened with extinction. At the current rate of decline, 90% of our bumblebees in Ireland will be wiped out by 2050. Not only are bees an indicator of healthy biodiversity, but they are also crucial in the production of more than 70% of our food.
This launch is the beginning of a broader initiative that will include a toolkit to enable Host In Ireland members, and the industry as a whole, to make an impact on their premises, in their community and within their global companies. It aims to support education, advocacy, awareness and meaningful action to improve bee populations.
It’s the first time such an initiative will have taken place by any industry group, with the involvement from all sides of the industry, including competitors working together, to help tackle bee depletion. By creating this industry-wide initiative, Host In Ireland hopes to influence other industries to get involved and reach a far greater audience than Native Woodland Trust or National Biodiversity Data Centre could do working with individual companies.
Commenting on today’s launch of the ‘DC’s for Bees’ initiative, Host In Ireland Founder and President Garry Connolly said:
“The people in the Irish data centre industry told us that they wanted to do something impactful, but individually, it’s hard to make a difference. We saw an opportunity to bring them together, working collaboratively, alongside competitors to do something for the greater good. Today marks the first step in this initiative that will deliver a plan for our entire industry to support the health and survival of bees through action, advocacy and awareness.”
Speaking about the partnership, Jim Lawlor from the Irish Native Woodland Trust said:
“We are delighted with the partnership between the Native Woodland Trust and Host In Ireland as part of their new programme to promote biodiversity in Ireland. This is the first time that we had a call from an industry willing to work together on such a project. It’s fantastic to be able to take this opportunity to promote native woodland habitat for our wildlife – particularly birds and insects. We are grateful to Host In Ireland and their members for helping to create two entire acres of new tree groves on our reserve here in Laragh, County Wicklow and we are looking forward to watching them grow for years to come.”
Pearl Abyss is today soft launching Black Desert Mobile for Android via the Google Play Store in seven countries after more than two million users pre-registered for the game just within 2 weeks. Now available to download in Canada, Chile, Sweden, Malaysia, Turkey, Ireland and Australia, the open-world action MMORPG will be launching on iOS and Android across the world later this year.
Black Desert Mobile offers fast-paced action combat and deep character customization that differentiate from other mobile MMORPGs. Experience an open-world filled with relaxing life skills and more, including:
Combat – Explore a deep combat system that allows players to experience the same core action of Black Desert on their mobile phone.
Customization – Discover your potential through a detailed character creation system. Design a unique adventurer by choosing from five classes and distinct skill sets to reflect your personal playstyle.
Life Skills – Hone your skills by fishing, gathering, trading, horse breeding, and camp managing your way to riches.
Leveling – Grow your character’s strength with different attributes including Equipment Enhancement, Accessories, the Black Spirit, and various Pets.
In-Depth Gameplay – In-game systems offer an immersive gameplay experience, such as social Guilds, weather changes, Black Spirit Mode, and a real-time marketplace environment.
Players can begin their new adventures by choosing from five character classes: Warrior, Ranger, Giant, Witch, or Valkyrie. Pick from masters of melee combat to those who attack from afar with range, or select a magic-based class for offensive and defensive skills.
By Liam Burke. Thanks to the nice people in Tp-link I got their Deco M4 Whole Home Mesh WiFi sytem (3 pack) to try out. It offers a single Mesh WiFi Network to cover an area of “up to 4000 sq ft” and will get rid of those nasty wifi blackspots in your home.
The system works by plugging in a base WiFi station into your existing router (using a supplied ethernet cable) and then adding the other satellite units around the house to blanket your home in lovely wifi and if you want more wifi i.e. down to a shed in the bottom of the garden you would just need to add an extra unit. Another advantage of using the Deco Mesh WiFi system is if your internet service provider is using a mobile network usually the best place to get the best LTE connection is upstairs or in a higher location, so by placing their router in the best signal location you get the most internet speed you can get and then using the Deco the best wifi over your home.
Each unit is finished in a stylish white cylinder approximately 91mm x 91mm x 190 mm with a power port, reset button and 2 ethernet ports at the rear, it would be nice if there was more ethernet ports on the Decos. The top of each Deco has a ridged effect and has a TP-Link notification light which will alert the user to issues with the unit this is configurable on/off at certain times via the app which is handy if one is located in a bedroom where you may not wish to have extra lights.
The Deco system can handle up to 100 devices, so enough for the busiest of homes.
The setup was super easy thanks to the Deco app available from the Google Play Store or via the Apple App Store
Once the app is installed it guides you through the setup process, you will need to create a Tp-Link account first then register with it.
So for each of the Deco units you just need to plug it in and open the Deco app and add another Deco to setup the whole network, you will be up and running in no time. During the setup the app will check if there is an update to the Deco unit and prompt you to install it.
The great thing with mesh networks is that your devices just see one network as opposed to a using a wifi extender where you will have to add that network to each device individually. Also as the Deco support IEEE 802.11e and k/v your device will switch seamlessly to the fastest Deco in your network whereas if you use a wifi extender your device will have to negotiate a connection to it so that will take sometime if your moving around . Another trick the Deco units has is adapative Path selection which means the Deco’s will chose the best route and band for your data.
The Deco units support self healing, so that if one of the deco units develop a fault, the system will re-configure itself.
To get even better results with the Deco units its best to connect them via Powerline plugs, as if you use wireless mode and say your connected to the last Deco, your signal has to travel to the intermediate Deco units first before going to your router.
My set up
There are plenty of options in the Deco app i.e. enabling only a 2.4 or 5Ghz network or
Setting up a Separate Guest network.
Blacklist to stop a device accessing the network.
Option to Update and also a virtual WPS button for each Deco unit.
The Deco can be configured in either an Access Point or Router mode.
A great feature is the parental controls will allows you to assign each device to a profile and then restrict that profile to general websites or specific ones and also restrict their time online.
Some other extras allow you to define A Quality of Service (QoS) so you can ensure specific devices always get the best internet and a Monthly Report so you can see how your network is behaving for the last month, what websites are most accessed etc. It would have been nice if there was more advanced features on the web based interface to allow for even more tweaks.
Its also compatible with Alexa which worked quiet well when I added the TPLink Router skill on my Amazon Echo Show 5 , for a list of Alexa keywords see
From the above table you can see the Decos gave increased speed to the locations that were furthest away from main router (Bedroom 3 and 4) where before I had very low speed or no internet at all and the signal strength was 100% in all of the house.
When I ran a speedtest in my back garden approximately 8 metres (25 feet) away from the kitchen I got 160 MBs and 4/5 Signal Strength, and I had no signal on either the 5ghz or 2.4ghz router, so if you use your wifi outside the Deco is a good solution for you.
For the advanced users, there are options like
Overall it’s a great piece of kit which spreads Wi-Fi all over your house and gives a lot more user options than the basic modem you would get from your service provider, and if you switch service providers you just need to plug the deco into the router that they supply to you and your up and running with no need to enter wifi passwords into all your devices.
Blink, one of the world’s fastest growing Travel Insurance InsurTechs has made it onto the INSURTECH100 for 2019. The INSURTECH100 is an annual list of the world’s most innovative InsurTech companies, that are solving significant industry problems, generating cost savings and/ or improving efficiency within insurance, as selected by a panel of analysts and industry experts.
This is just the latest highlight in Blink’s 3-year growth story, which, since its inception in 2016, has seen it grow from a 2-man start up to a trailblazing InsurTech, which was bought by the AIM listed CPP Group just 6 months after it was set up.
Speaking of today’s announcement by FinTech Global, the specialist data and research provider and the organisation behind INSURTECH100, Blink’s co-founder and serial Irish entrepreneur Paul Prendergast said,
“We are honoured to be named amongst the best and brightest in the global InsurTech industry. Selected from a pool of more than 1,000 companies and being awarded such recognition makes this a very proud day for us. 3 years after we started Blink, we continue to grow at speed, driven by our product innovation, our insurance partnerships and our ambition to provide InsurTech solutions to end users in every corner of the world.”
PICTURE Darragh Kane
Blink is now a world leader in parametric insurance product innovation, transforming its clients’ complex offerings into superior service experiences with simple, intuitive, online products. The company partners globally with insurance and financial services companies, driving innovation in Asia, Europe and North America.
Blink made it onto the prestigious list amidst strong competition in an industry which is growing at breakneck speed and where new players are joining weekly.
According to FinTech Global, the InsurTech industry has seen huge growth in the last 2 years as insurance companies grapple with the challenges of digital transformation and new demands from customers. Nearly $10bn has been invested in InsurTech companies since the beginning of 2017.
Richard Sachar, Director of FinTech Global commented,
“The companies on this list are the ones that every leader in the insurance industry needs to know about as they consider and develop their digital transformation strategies.”
Blink successfully launched Blink Travel in 2016 and have recently complemented their services platform with Energy, IOT and Weather solutions.
Blink Travel offers an innovative real-time data driven travel disruption solution. Once a traveller registers their flight details, Blink monitors that flight in real-time. Any flight disruption that occurs to the registered flight, automatically results in a traveller being notified instantly. Real-time event notification allows for real-time problem resolution. The traveller is immediately offered service choices that can instantly remove the stress and consequences of the disruption ranging from airport lounge access, cash which is immediately deposited into the travellers’ bank account, through to booking and paying for a hotel whilst also booking a new flight.
Mr. Prendergast continued,
“Being able to differentiate ourselves from other businesses in the industry is crucial. What we offer is unique and has a ‘wow’ factor that delivers an extraordinary impact for our partners as they push ahead with their InsurTech transformation objectives. We’ve signed some huge partnerships over the last 24 months, and we have others in the pipeline to be announced this year, so the future is exciting, and this recognition is the perfect acknowledgement and motivator for our team to keep delivering excellence.”
The latest Global Interconnection Index (GXI), an annual market study published by Equinix, predicts private connectivity at the edge will grow by 51% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), and exceed a total bandwidth capacity of more than 13,300 Tbps, equivalent to 53 zettabytes of data exchanged annually. This is enough to support every person on earth simultaneously downloading a complete season of Game of Thrones in ultra-high definition resolution in less than a single day.
The GXI market study finds interconnection bandwidth – the capacity for direct and private traffic exchange between key business partners – is an essential component to digital business and validates that to compete in the digital economy, companies must address growing data volumes and increasing data exchange velocity across a rising number of clouds and business ecosystems. In fact, according to a separate independent survey commissioned by Equinix of more than 2,450 global senior IT professionals, almost half (48%) of global IT decision-makers believe interconnection is a key facilitator of digital transformation. 4 in 10 IT decision-makers in EMEA feel the same, rising to 5 in 10 for Ireland.
“People, software and machines are creating and consuming data faster and in all the places where we work, play, and live,” said Rick Villars, Research Vice President, Datacentre & Cloud, IDC. “The significant increase in data created, aggregated and analysed in these new locations is contributing to a major shift away from deploying IT in traditional corporate data centres. Enterprises need access to robust, modern data centre facilities near the edge locations where businesses want to deploy dedicated infrastructure and interconnect to the increasing number of clouds, customers and partners that are at the core of digital transformation efforts.”
Strong data compliance regulations across EMEA are unlocking data exchange and growth of interconnection bandwidth in Healthcare & Life Sciences, Government & Education, and Business & Professional Services. This is leading Europe (51% CAGR) to overtake North America (46% CAGR) in the race to digital growth. Latin America is leading the charge with a 63% CAGR, with Asia-Pacific not far behind (56% CAGR). Expansion plans across the world, according to the survey, tell a slightly different story with 55% of EMEA businesses planning to expand in to new metros, versus more aggressive expansion plans in other regions (Americas 69%, Asia-Pacific 65%). 6 out of 10 (62%) IT decision-makers globally are utilising virtual connections to support these growth plans.
Maurice Mortell, Managing Director for Ireland, Equinix
Key Findings:
The GXI Vol. 3 delivers insights by tracking, measuring and forecasting growth in interconnection bandwidth—the total capacity provisioned to privately and directly exchange traffic, with a diverse set of partners and providers, at distributed IT exchange points inside carrier-neutral colocation data centres. The GXI finds:
The ability to exchange large volumes of data through interconnection is essential to compete in the digital economy
In response to rapidly growing volumes of data, enterprise consumption of interconnection bandwidth will grow at a 64% CAGR globally, outpacing other forms of business data exchange. This is due to be even higher for EMEA, with consumption growing at a 67% CAGR, leading enterprises to account for 60% of total interconnection bandwidth in 2022.
The independent survey found that interconnection is playing a central role in Irish businesses’ expansion plans. 57% of Irish respondents said their organisation is expanding into new regions, countries or metros, with 63% of those planning to use virtual connections to support this expansion. Some 41% of IT decision-makers in Ireland say interconnection helps to reduce the cost of connectivity.
To manage increasing volumes of data, enterprises are on average deploying in nine locations, with a total of 340 interconnections to networks, clouds and business partners. The survey shines more light on this – IT decision-makers in Ireland are utilising interconnection to connect to other enterprises (28%), network service providers (32%) and cloud service providers (17%).
The survey also found more than one-third (36%) of Irish IT decision-makers believe interconnection can help their business to gain competitive advantage within the marketplace. Half (50%) believe that interconnection is a key facilitator of digital transformation, while 40% consider it to be central to their business’ survival.
Ireland’s role as a data centre hub is also continuing to attract business. Almost half (47%) of IT decision-makers in Ireland say that due to the flourishing data centre industry, Ireland is the best place in EMEA to interconnect with partners, customers, supply chain and cloud service providers.
Distance is the biggest performance killer for digital business
Deploying direct, private connections at the edge propels both application performance and user experience.
Today’s latency-sensitive workloads require response times ranging from <60 to <20 milliseconds, forcing IT infrastructure closer to the points of consumption (the edge).
According to the survey, 24% of Irish IT decision-makers are using interconnection to increase speed of connectivity.
Leading businesses are gaining competitive advantage using a combination of key interconnection deployment models
Interconnecting to multiple network providers across multiple edge locations is the most prominent use case for interconnection bandwidth and is expected to grow 4x by 2022. According to the survey, optimising the performance of networks is a key priority for 61% of IT decision-makers in Ireland.
Interconnecting to multiple clouds and IT services across multiple edge locations and cloud regions represents the next largest and fastest use of interconnection bandwidth and is predicted to grow 13x by 2022. The move to multi-cloud strategies is cited by respondents to the survey as a priority for 37% of Irish IT decision-makers.
Interconnecting to digital business partners for financial services, content and digital media and supply chain integration makes up the remainder of interconnection bandwidth use cases and is forecasted to grow 5x by 2022.
Customer case study – Smartbox Group, Ireland
Smartbox Group, headquartered in Dublin, is using interconnection to support its rapid growth across Europe. Selling themed experience gifts – from wellness and adventure to gastronomy and holidays – across 11 European countries, it enables recipients of gift ‘boxes’ to redeem experiences from any of the group’s 40,000 partner companies. To ensure seamless customer journeys across Europe, Smartbox is interconnecting with partners and cloud service providers via Equinix.
Paul Cash, Director of IT Operations, Smartbox, said: “Interconnection is a fundamental element in driving digital transformation and enabling the movement of data on a global scale and it allows our technology teams the flexibility to decide the where to deploy data intensive applications.
“Leveraging public and private clouds is a crucial element in the continuous development of our business and new technologies. Given our focus on the user experience, it is vital that there are no latency issues and Platform Equinix gives us that peace of mind by providing secure and direct connections to the cloud. It is the backbone of all of our systems.”
“Europe’s predicted CAGR of 51%, illustrates the fact that enterprises across the continent are increasingly using new and innovative ways of interconnecting with their customers and partners, to stay relevant and gain a competitive advantage. In line with this, results from our independent survey found the EMEA region has the largest proportion of organisations – at 63% – using interconnection to support their expansion into new regions, countries or metros. This shows interconnection is a critical business asset for companies increasingly looking to operate across borders and in doing so, broaden customer bases”.
Maurice Mortell, Managing Director for Ireland, Equinix
“Interconnection has become vital as organisations look to digitally transform and innovate. Companies need to be able to connect to key business partners across the world and meet their digital requirements. Interconnection offers what traditional modes of connectivity cannot, enabling businesses to adapt to a global way of working, stay competitive in a digital economy and take advantage of the data they are producing. Ireland is really thriving in this area because we have the digital ecosystem to support enterprises in their interconnection journey.”
The Nokia 800 tough has dropped in and there has been many people asking about the device via social media and for us to check it out with all its features and option so I decided to do so and not only for the fans but for myself to see what is on offer. This device can take a beating yet offer the consumer lots to keep themselves occupied but also give you a level of detox too with limited access to certain apps and so on, There is also the google assistant present which is really handy to have and it works well.
The camera and video aspect will not win you awards but it is not aimed at photography but you can take a quick snap or video should you feel the need to, This phone is ideal for people who travel,go to camping,picnics and builders would be another customer to think of here due to how tough this phone is yet you can still keep in tough with the online world but it will be a slow experience but that is not a bad thing in my book. The Nokia 800 tough and 2720 just like the 8110 from last year runs KaiOS which is now seen as a third OS and with apps it has now on board feature phones it is one to watch.
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Nokia 800 Tough brings the latest features fans would expect in a modern phone, packing in The Google Assistant, popular apps like WhatsApp and Facebook, 4G connectivity and more so you can stay connected even off the beaten path. The Nokia 800 Tough comes in Black Steel and Desert Sand and is available from late October for €129 SIM free from An Post Mobile, Woodie’s and Carphone Warehouse.
PACUM is the ideal kit for those who travel and again people going on holidays,this portable unit is a must have simple as that. Packing is a pain and so is the inclusion of purchases when we are away and run out of space and this simple device fixes that and better than I expected.
One handed use and minimal buttons you can not go wrong using this. There is several fittings included and one to use on other similar bags out there today. You can also inflate things with PACUM which is an added bonus as an example if you where to bring an inflatable toy on holidays you could pack it up and inflate when away and saving you looking for one to buy there is lots of options here.
The only downside if you will is the noise level but it is not that bad and better than a conventional hoover which most people would use to pack things at home such as I would but other than that this is a must have if you travel. See the video below for more and how it works.
Functions and features
Panel lights indicate the function setting
2 pump modes. “Eco-mode” & “Boost”
Pacum stops automatically
Double packing capacity in just over 1 minute
Height:86mm width:43mm depth:43mm Weight : 145g
Pacum is available now on the Masterspace website for GBP £49/USD $59.99 including shipping.
