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.
Facebook is rife with scams at the minute which is very annoying and particular with get rich quick scams, Not only that there is multiple voucher scams on the go which we have covered some. The latest one to take note of in particular is an Aldi scam which has nothing to to with them offering you free vouchers, It is not true and just another scam and you should ignore,block and report but will Facebook do anything?? Probably not by looking at the amount of these sponsored posts on Facebook. This scam also says there is a new website and portrays to be Aldi. Again not true at all.
We have contacted Aldi Ireland and they are looking into the matter. See the tweet below for what you need to look out for.. Enjoy the weekend folks..
Recently we checked out the One Step 2 camera from Polaroid and today we have the next version of the retro camera in house which offers more features than the last and are certainly welcome features to the nostalgia which Polaroid pays homage to.
The new model offers an extra lens and better flash and this is coupled with an app that gives you more flexibility with taking photos too which is the real bonus though some might still prefer to keep it as it is and just use the camera as is, Today we take a first look and if you have any questions in the meantime feel free to ask whilst we get snapping.
This camera uses Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone, allowing you to tweak your photos with the free Polaroid Originals app for iOS and Android! With this app you can do amazing things that haven’t been possible on instant cameras in the past.
Create double exposures, light painting (long exposures), capture the moment with a remote trigger, engage the self-timer, and take the perfect picture with manual mode. This camera also allows for a noise trigger, which will take a picture when it hears a loud sound, like a clap, splash, or shout!
We dont just cater for adults here we cater for all and a new product that has just launched called TONIES has just arrived which is really great idea and for your kids and a new way of story telling.
Invented by two dads in Germany in 2016, tonies offers users a new way to experience storytelling and songs, consisting of a soft speaker cube – a Toniebox – and “Tonies” audio characters. The Tonies are placed on top of the Toniebox and automatically play the audio content that is matched to that character.
Marcus Stahl, co-founder of tonies® comments: “Innovation has been central to the evolution of tonies from the very beginning, so we’re extremely excited to venture into the world of augmented reality technology to introduce our customers to our forthcoming Disney Tonies. This tech has already been used by the likes of Sephora and Nike for product launches but it’s uncharted territory for most children’s brands.”
Matthias Keudel, Country Manager UK/IRL for tonies® adds: “Augmented reality is a rising trend in the retail industry, and one we’ve been keen to experiment with for some time. It’s enabled us to create a buzz around the new launches and truly immerse users in the product – bringing a new meaning to try before you buy!”
Further Disney licenses will be added to the portfolio of Tonies this year. The portfolio, which already combines a wide range of stories, music and knowledge, is constantly being extended – with the number of Tonies available in the UK and Ireland set to grow from 45 to 60 by the end of this year alone.
The current characters in the Tonie-Family already include some well-known faces such as The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Little Red Riding Hood and The Snowman, whilst Creative-Tonies allow users to upload up to 90 minutes of their own audio content.
If you fancy splashing out on a new phone the Google Pixel devices has got some discounts now on offer which might make you hit that purchase button. Currently I use the Pixel 3a and its my daily driver and does all my daily tasks with no issues at all despite being a mid tier device and I throw alot at my phones and it is running fine months after release.. Also worth noting the Pixel 3a has a superb camera and is arguably one of the best on the market but for anything under €400 nothing comes near it..
The Pixel 3 has got a big discount too and again it might be worth the purchase, These discounts come as normal as the Pixel 4 will be due to launch soon and I for one cant wait to see what is on offer and Google have been dishing out some of the features on social of late to keep people on their toes. The Pixel 3 starts now at €699
5G has launched in Ireland and as expected it is a soft launch if you will and it will be another 3/4 years deploying out across the country due to the infrastructure involved and how 5G actually works. For now we have 5G in Dublin,Cork,Limerick,Galway and Waterford.
What choice do I have?
Off the bat you are already restricted by plans and choice of handset which for now there is only two handsets available here however in other regions there is more handsets of choice but that will change. iPhones are out of the question for at least a year and will have no effect on the roll-out of 5G here unlike Android devices which will lead the way for early adopters to the new high speed service and for now we have the Huawei Mate 20X and the Samsung S10 5G and later of course the Note 10 which is launching soon will have a 5G variant great powerful smartphones but expensive.
Cost
Cost straight away is going to be a niggle for those who want to jump on now with these devices costing over €1000 sim free and the market for those devices is slowly dying for the latest and greatest due to lower priced phones coming in at half the price we are now at a stage where the expensive phone is a status symbol again and I cant wait to see the price of iPhones when they do have 5G on board but you will get the sheep defending this. There will be limited plans to begin with too so your are caught here for now.
We dont have too rely on Vodafone as eir and Three will be soon on the 5G service by the end of the year or early next year and MVNOs will surely follow on after this.. This is probably when we will see the cost come down on moving onto a 5G plan.
eSIMS they are a thing now..
eSims can be a standalone sim or it is embedded into your smartphone but this is another part of the equation that will take years to work out what is best and in hindsight its a battle for the providers along with 5G itself, A traditional sim is a win for providers as you are locked onto a plan and if you travel much this is where one issue sits. When we travel we like to either buy a local sim or just take the flack and get an add on before you travel and this is where the money is and if you go over you miserable data allowance you are hammered.
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eSims allow you to connect where you travel too once there is a roaming agreement in the region you go too, so this cuts out the local sim purchase and it can loose revenue for a provider, eSims are now also available in laptops too which is great for business and enterprise customers so you now see why the eSim is a problem however Vodafone are ahead in this arena keeping people connected. If now you are roaming on a standard 5G sim you will be able to use in the states on different bands which might cause issues as some travel over shorter distances which will drop your signal back to 4G this will be exactly the same thing here as it currently is now on 4G you automatically skip onto 3G for example when your signal drops. Yes there is still many blackspots in Ireland that leave you with just EDGE..
This will be the next question people ask about 5G and routers yes they will be available such as D-Link for example yet this will still only work in a 5G area its not the same thing as 5ghz as people often confuse this with 5G. 5G is on a cellular service and 5ghz is the spectrum you can connect your router to, As it stands we have 2.4/5 ghz routers in our homes. There is also an argument to be had on how dangerous these are with EMF and there is even counter EMF products on sale right now but do they work? 5G routers will plug into your broadband as opposed to the cable or modem jack we are familiar with. But are these dangerous. NO.
What do you need to get 5G?
First of all you do not need to get a new sim card as your current one will suffice however I always suggest changing your sim even if on pre-pay at least every 18 month but with people moving between providers today your sim should be fine and up to date however I have had many people contact me about reception and so on any they have not changed their sim in years,they are using older devices and happy with them and wonder why the service is poor,this though is mainly the older generation but some middle aged folk who are just happy with what they have and either top up monthly or just let the bills come and ignore the upgrade,sell their upgrade if on a bill and get a free phone and move along.
After that you just need the plan,compatible phone and of course be in the 5G zones.There will be an onslaught of 5G ready phones in the next year you will then have choice and for now these devices are just too expensive but more manufacturers are now making 5G chips which will bring the cost down and have the ability to switch from 5G to 4G vice versa and support dual 5G for another 2 Years at least this is what will happen until 5G becomes commonplace in big cities but in rural areas you will be waiting longer.
What will 5G do for me and the consumer?
5G is the future but some see it as a huge health risk I will touch on that later. We are now settling into IoT quite well with many of us having it in our homes and comfortable with it,until the recent news of listening in arose anyway which some tech people say it is not true,it is true but to an extent nonetheless we do not like it but its there to advance the technology going forward. 5G will change everything going forward, At the moment we do not have the bandwidth to support these technologies but with Autonomous driving being one key player relying on 5G ( In Ireland it will be another 5-10 years before this is a thing) now we have medical,farming,security,connected homes,gaming are just some examples that will benefit from 5G as well as us the consumer who can enjoy faster downloads. Also some of note for climate change perhaps it will mean less need to travel with the ability to hold video conferences and the likes but sure look we have Skype and that didn’t really change things much in that regard
Should you buy a 5G phone and plan now??
Personally NO. Given I would like to test it and see just how faster it is, In time I will eventually move onto it when the infrastructure is there and ready,given it is available in parts of Ireland and the world its a flaky experience depending where you are. For now its guinea pig time ie testing in the real world and before a decent number of people on the network we have to see how latency plays out etc, Yes all those things that are a contributing factor to the internet and mobile that apply today with congestion etc. I will wait until there is more phones and see what prices are available later in the year unless I get to try it for myself. #cough #cough.
The birds and the bees and the bullshit that exists with 5G
Awaits the anti 5G brigade to burn me. No… I have had several heated debates about 5G on social and on forums alike and it is a tough one, the anti 5G brigade are a tough bunch however mostly coming back with the same information all the time which proves nothing, 5G is a new technology and it will take years to yield and type of factual evidence,the same thing we had with 4G and you can bet right now we will see the same thing come the next revolution which we can assume will be 6G.
One report being shot at me HERE and this famous video on You Tube, All this just like chemtrails and the likes will fall under the conspiracy theories radar big time the same as birds are ignoring or flying away from 5G towers and the networks play down the bad press they are getting by such folk however there is no real hard evidence out there to suggest it is dangerous, Real world testing is not a standard now as 5G is not a standard and it will be a long time before it is,perhaps then it will tell a different story but for now it is busted. I have even had the pleasure of questioning a certain ACI anti 5G campaigner whom blocked me when I scalded her on twitter which is a pure sign of defeat right there.
What is 5G
It is the next evolution of mobile with faster speeds up to or over 1000mbps, but has its drawbacks not only with the service but smartphones too recent testing has seen overheating and it will have an effect on your battery, 5G will need more nodes and this will take time and will only work effectively with a direct line of sight this will have problems when it comes to penetrating buildings,travel distance and other aspects can have an effect on its performance it is new here but has been trialled and tested in the states now and the results are in, It will be no different here and it is going to take a long time before it becomes a standard and costly. Also worth noting there is no standards set for 5G coverage yet so this will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year or two bringing me back to what I said earlier about blackspots and coverage as it stands there is laws set for 3G/4G but not 5G see more HERE
Source – Qualcom
In short 5G will mean faster speeds,downloads and with IoT faster actions especially if you have connected devices in your home, for example switches,lights,wireless cameras etc you will not see a lag, no buffering on streaming or downloads and a much more reliable connection than ever before this will pave the way forward for other technology and help in current as mentioned earlier but is it worth jumping on the 5G bandwagon right now? Hell No.
Data consumption is another worry here for people as I have been asked, You will not use more in theory however with the ease of downloads you might forget and download material to your hearts content and that is where you need to keep an eye on things,The same applies if streaming a fine example is how you stream be it on 720p,1080p or 4K. For now 4K is not much of a worry but there is services that offer it.
Edifier offer many types of speakers to suit all peoples needs and suit all environments at home or even an office space not only that they look good with a premium finish and will last and most importantly deliver on the sound experience.
The latest on offer is the R2000BD Classic multimedia speakers and I have tested these out in several situations and the sound that is delivered is top class and something I expect from Edifier been a long time user and tester of their products.
The R2000DB are built to last and look good keeping things simple too for the user with minimal controls on the rear and the option to change the tune via remote. One speaker is a satellite whilst the other houses all the I/Os and it is a simple set up.
With the R2000DB you can connect up to two devices which is great and will suit most people you can use your mobile phones bluetooth, then you have the other options at hand such as Optical which I highly suggest as this allows audio from all devices connected to your TV pass through so if you move from your games console to TV or Netflix for example you are still connected and no fuss and the same great sound is delivered.
Click to enlarge images…
Design here is robust and lasting and the looks is good with a great finish and will suit any home or office they can be placed more or less anywhere but these are bookshelf speakers bit can be placed either side of your TV or bookshelf setup it all depends on your personal needs however they are versatile and can be moved once you are near a power socket or again you could use an extension.
The sound is second to none with music,tv,gaming or streaming and you have the options to adjust bass,treble and volume on the rear of the speaker or use the remote to adjust to your needs,these will rattle your floorboards at max volume but I did not notice any distortion maxed out but they will vibrate any surface they are on.
One thing to note is they are not as light as other speakers on offer and might be cumbersome for a few folk but it is a caveat I can forgive over how they deliver elsewhere. Probably their best to date from the range I have tested.
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BLUETOOTH CONNECTION – Pair your phone, tablet or computer for a true hassle free wireless experience, perfect for any iOS, Android, MacOS or Windows device.
OPTICAL INPUT – Enjoy lossless digital connection from your TV, TV Box, DVD/blu-ray player, receiver, HTPC, computer or gaming consoles such as Xbox and Playstation.
2 x AUX INPUT – Convenient connection to any device that has a 3.5mm headphone output or dual RCA output.
REMOTE CONTROL – switch input sources, control volume and choose digital sound processing (DSP) modes at your figure tips.
I am not one to use a mouse much (until now) as I have already got a logitech wireless keyboard which does a great job as it is but I have tried several mice over the last year and this one has got my attention really quickly because of how it can make you more productive and what it has to offered compared to many standard mice out there most of us are custom to using on a daily basis.
The fact alone here which is beneficial for multiscreen/laptop set ups is you can use the mouse across 3 of them (Logitech flow) and drag and drop items from one set up to another which is really handy and an excellent feature not seen on many other offerings out there. Setting up the mouse is simple and you get a dongle in the box and connectivity is instant you can of course use your pc/laptops own bluetooth connection but the dongle just works much better and faster you will need to install additional software and have bluetooth connectivity to use the feature mentioned above which will be no problem on any of today’s laptops with bluetooth a standard.
The design is ergonomic and fits perfectly in your hand with a built in gesture button on the thumb with all the buttons at your ease and you can also assign shortcuts to the buttons if you desire you have software to look upon to see what options are available I got one update during my testing period.
On the top is a typical set up with a mouse wheel you can use for infinite scrolling which is handy and you have the left and right buttons which are sensitive and light to touch and work very well and clicky. The mouse wheel on top can be used in two modes as mentioned above or a ratchet action and can be easily changed with the small square (mode) button beneath the wheel.
On the side of the mouse you have another scroll wheel and this also can come in handy for the likes of spreadsheets etc and this one is more stiff than the main wheel which will give you good control of scrolling sideways. I am by no means a mouse expert but this works well. Behind the side scroll wheel you have two elongated buttons which actually allow you to go back on a web page and go back forward again which is very handy.
Underneath the mouse is a standard affair with the power on/off the lazer only this time you have the option to switch from 1-3 PCs which is where this shines with the ability to connect 3 pcs/laptops and transfer files which is really useful but you must install the software on the other two devices on the same network to get the full functionality this will work with 2 by the way not just 3 computers.
You get 70 days battery life (Claimed by manufacturer but I have not had it that long) from this which is excellent and it is also rechargeable so no batteries required..Another bonus.. Also this will work on almost any surface. No mat required.
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As i said I have only used a few mice over the years but this for me has changed how I work at home already with the ability to customize the buttons and to add any shortcut from your PC then be able to transfer files between two or three it will be the last mouse I need. For 109 euro though some might complain but once you use it and get the hang of it you won’t look back. It is a great productivity tool.
UK InsurTech Pluto, the travel insurance startup backed by the recent winner of the ‘British Airways – Future of Flying’ award, Zurich, has teamed up with Blink to provide flight delay cover to its customers, instantly helping them get access to an airport lounge or a cash payout when they need it most.
Pluto allows customers to build and manage their own policies and even claim from their mobile device. With its headline ‘Travel cover for the travel lover’, Pluto aims to reduce the number of millennials who put themselves under unnecessary risk when travelling without cover, which applies to around 40% of this audience.
Blink, acquired by CPPGroup Plc in 2017, is quickly becoming one of the most innovative and successful providers of flight disruption solutions to insurers across the globe. It offers customers a proactive real-time insurance service that meets the speed and convenience that modern customers demand through notifying travellers instantly if a flight is delayed. Real-time event notification allows for real-time problem resolution. Blink can offer clients options such as a cash payment or access to an airport lounge, all within seconds of the disruption occurring.
Alex Rainey, Co-Founder and CEO of Pluto, said: “Insurance is such an exciting space because there’s so much room for improvement. A lot of this can be achieved by using the latest technology combined with thoughtful design. We’re constantly looking for new ways to bring experiences and services to our customers that they wouldn’t expect from a travel insurer. Being able to help them instantly in a time of frustration, like a flight delay, can be such a surprising experience for a customer. When we found Blink, we instantly knew we wanted to partner with them. They’ve proven themselves all over the world as a leading parametric travel insurance tech provider. Our customers are super excited to start using this new service.”
Alex describes the innovation as a “gamechanger, not only for the travel insurance industry but for all of those who travel, whether for work or for leisure, millennial or not. Blink enables us to provide that magic moment to customers, surprising and delighting them when they least expect it. Our community just love to travel, but things go wrong sometimes, being able to be there to help is what we’re all about.”
Paul Prendergast, CEO of Blink, added: “The discussions we’ve had with Pluto, a dynamic company changing the insurance market with truly novel products, has been a delight. The partnership is a natural fit for both companies and one we are excited about growing. Partnering with Pluto to design smart parametric travel insurance that appeals to a millennial demographic, which represents almost 18%[1] of the UK population alone, is just the type of work we thrive on.”
Alex concludes: “As we prepare for our crowdfunding campaign in September this year, partnerships with leading technology providers like Blink are key. They allow us to deliver on our vision of helping people get the most out of their travels. Instant help with flights delays are an incredible way to start bringing that vision to life.”
The Alcatel 3 2019 edition has dropped in and comes with more new features over its 2018 predecessor and at an affordable pricepoint. This time round we have a dual camera setup on the rear and fingerprint sensor and also this time round we have Face Key detection which is similar to Face unlock. Also for those who like emojis we have AR emojis to boot.
Also the new edition has a nice display on offer this time with 4G RAM with a 3500mAh battery on board so this would be a great first time device or if you are upgrading from last years iteration. Check out the unboxing and walkthrough below so you can see what you get and if you have any questions feel free to ask during our test run.
