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.
Recently we checked out Skullcandy PUSH and VENUE which came in a superb colour and they have really good audio as I expected and you can see those reviews linked below you should check them out if you want a great audio experience with an affordable price.
Today we check out the all new INDY which are the dubbed pencil styled true wireless similar to iPods and the Urbanista Stockholm we just reviewed. With simple controls and ease of use I hope they sound as good as I always expect from Skullcandy and to date have not let me down. Any questions hit us up as always and we will gladly answer..
Groov-e, a leading UK tech brand, today introduces its newest true wireless headphones, the SoundBuds. Boasting the latest technology, the SoundBuds, at just £59.99, include a ‘touch to talk’ feature which gives users access to their AI assistant without opening the phone. Simply press a button on the side of the headphones and speak directly with Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. Using voice commands users can cue music, ask for directions, set calendar events and make phone calls quickly and easily when on-the-go.
Allowing users to be free from any cables or neckbands, the SoundBuds offer uncompromised, completely wireless sound with impressive stereo audio quality. A sleek, compact and minimalistic design makes the SoundBuds perfect for anyone, whether they’re commuting, exercising or taking calls from the office.
Featuring Bluetooth V5 technology, users are able to connect the SoundBuds seamlessly with any smart-device that’s up to 10 metres away. They deliver up to four-hours of battery life from a single charge, and up to 14 hours in total with the pocket friendly charging case. Perfect for on-the-go and completely hassle free, the SoundBuds automatically turn on and connect to each other once taken out of their charging case, or just use one at a time for a mono version on calls.
Comfortable and lightweight, the SoundBuds come with extra earbuds to ensure users get the perfect fit. Featuring a built-in mic and on-earbud controls, users have the power to answer or reject incoming calls or switch their music without a wire or device in sight.
Kunal Patel, Director, Groov-e said: “With our latest launch we are proving that you don’t need to spend a fortune to have a quality pair of true wireless headphones. With the SoundBuds coming in at £60, this offers a step up to our Playbuds, packed with technology such as our voice assistant guide and Bluetooth 5.0.”
The SoundBuds true wireless earphones are available now from www.groov-e.co.uk for £59.99
There’s good news for Virgin Media customers today as ComReg has just announced its latest update on complaints received. However for eir its a disaster which is no surprise.
Virgin Media officially has the lowest rate of complaints compared to all competitors. Eir being particularly far behind with a ComReg complaint rate 50 times worse than Virgin Media’s. I have had my own issues with eir over the last year and customer service is a word they need to look up because it was a harrowing experience ( not only for me but for countless others which was widely seen on social and in the media) and only recently sorted after multiple spats on social media been fed the same scripted rubbish time and time again. As a virgin customer having moved from eir I can say they act fast and are quite good on social media.
Every other operator saw an increase in complaints, while Virgin Media has improved again with 0.028 in Q1 /19 compared to 0.040 in Q4 /18.
The research also looked at the length of time complaints remained open with each operator. Once again, Virgin Media topped the scoreboard with no contacts open for greater than 20 days.
Michael McCarthy, Vice President of Customer at Virgin Media,“We’re very encouraged by these results. We are delighted our investment in customer service is delivering ongoing improvements in overall service delivery and satisfaction ratings. Features like our new ‘Smart WiFi’ updates to our Customer’s WiFi Hubs will also help improve our customers’ in-home broadband experience even more.”
If you are one like me who likes to travel and commute you need the best gear to go with it and of course you need the best audio experience to enhance your trip as I for one would not be seen with below par earbuds or headphones and the same applies to what I carry my goods in as our tech travel packs can be quite expensive and you only want the best to secure it.
World running day is almost upon us too and here is a selection below of some ideas of what you can kit yourself out with for those commutes and travel plans.
For your audio experience the Jabra Elite Active 65t and the Elite Active 45e’s, two awesome sets of true wireless earbuds, offering superior sound quality for music and calls on the go. These I have personally used tried and tested and can easily recommend both there is something to suit everyone’s pocket.
For your storage worries, Fear not we have Targus bags, the Work+Play is perfect for transporting your gym gear and your laptop between, home, work and the gym so that you are always equipped with the stuff you need to keep active or to run to work.
For those who don’t want to run, the Newport Tote bag is the ultimate commuting companion, a stylish bag that is designed to cradle your laptop, alongside personal belongings so that you can walk to work in style this summer.
An Irish schoolboy has made it to the global final of the annual Google Science Fair, the annual online science competition open to students between the ages of 13 and 18 from around the world.
Fionn Ferreira (18) from Ballydehob in West Cork will be flown to Google international headquarters in Mountain View, California, this July to compete in the largest science fair in the world. An alumnus of the BT Young Scientist Exhibition, Fionn is a student at Schull Community College who is about to sit his Leaving cert in June.
His project titled “An investigation into the removal of microplastics from water using ferrofluids” posits a novel way to filter microplastics from water by using magnets. It is one of 20 global finalists chosen from a shortlist of 100 regional entries competing for the top prize of a $50,000 bursary, with category winners each receiving $15,000 grants and exclusive STEM-related experiences.
The Google Science Fair has been running annually since 2011 and is held in partnership with Virgin Galactic, LEGO Education, National Geographic, and Scientific American.
In addition to becoming a finalist in one of the most prestigious STEM competitions for students, the 18 year old polymath is also about to undergo his Leaving Cert this June. Not content with an already busy schedule, Fionn also works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and has even had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Speaking about the announcement, Fionn Ferreira said, “It’s an incredible honour to reach the global final of the Google Science Fair. My project came about as I was constantly hearing about plastic pollution on the news, and as I live by the sea in West Cork I was also seeing the real effects on our beaches every day. I discovered to my dismay that at present no screening or filtering for microplastics takes place in any European wastewater treatment centres, so I started looking around for a solution.
“Seeing that there was none I decided to investigate further, eventually finding a way to use ferrofluid, a magnetic liquid which sticks to the plastic allowing it to be removed using magnets. I was inspired by an article I read about how non-toxic iron oxide powder can be used to clean up oil spills by making a ferrofluid from the spilled oil. So to adapt this for microplastics I used a mixture of magnetite (iron oxide) and waste vegetable oil, and the resulting ferrofluid sticks to and attracts plastic particles. After over 1,000 tests I have proved that my method would remove 87% or higher of microplastics in sample tests.
“I can’t wait to get to Google HQ in California to talk about my project, and I look forward to applying my findings and contributing towards a solution in tacking microplastics in our oceans worldwide.”
Read more about “An investigation into the removal of microplastics from water using ferrofluids” here.
Read more about Fionn via his personal website here. Read more about the Google Science Fair here.
I am a long time user and fan of Jabra products and when they announced the 85h I was eagerly waiting to see what was on offer here to see if there is any competition to the Bose QC 35s and Sony WH1000MX3s which are the rave these days and having tried them both Jabra are giving them a good run for their money and something else for the consumer to think about when they are looking for their next set of noise cancelling headphones.
First up if you missed it check out the unboxing experience below and the great presentation on offer from Jabra.
Before I go any further YOU NEED TO USE THE SOUND PLUS APP. This app is excellent and I have been using it some time now and this underpins the excellence with your Jabra experience as a whole and I have said it many times all manufacturers need their own EQ app at least to enhance the experience and you can see more on the app in the review below.
The colour I have may not be the best for some as it easily gets dirty but the materials used makes them easy to clean which has water resistance then again you have a protective case to keep them out of harms way when not in use which as always is a bonus and something all manufacturers need to consider as part of the package.
Build quality is great and I do expect a few years of life out of these once they are treated right ,Ok they are plastic but so are most headphones at this price point and this also keeps the weight down. Comfort is great and can be worn for hours I would wear mine easily two hours a day and no issues here with discomfort or sweat I actually use my cans for watching You Tube and listening to music for long periods in the evening or during the day when wandering around the house and put them to the test and this goes for and earbuds or headphones I use its not your typical 30/60 mins try em out situation and give a score.
The cups are really soft and sink onto your ears and block put much of the outside world without ANC turned on and the soft underside of the headband adds to the comfort levels and after a while you would almost forget they are on your head this is a win win. I also like the slider mechanism to lengthen the arms this is cool and does not have that clicky sound you get on many headphones.
The fabric material is nice and complements the leather and looks well and almost has a two tone effect.
The cups as I said cover the ears nicely and the headphones do not clamp on your head and the controls are easy to use and kept simple compared to what you find on earbuds these days. On the left side is the ANC button if you will which turns ANC on/off gives you the hear through option this can also be done in the soundplus app..
On the right we have a bit more action with the Assistant button be it siri or Google this works every time and we also have our USB-C charge port,3.5 mm jack and an indicator LED for status, On the outside of the cup we have controls for volume,call answer/reject play/pause and these also have on ear detection which is great and a feature again needs to be seen more often. Another great feature is how they power on/off which is a simple twist of the cups.. You can also skip tracks and restart but no skip back to previous track.
You now also get plenty of voice commands here with a better sounding voice than older models this I like as it’s not robotic and kind of easy on the ears.. YKWIM..
Battery life is on par with what Jabra claim (36 hours) which is pretty good and call quality is again excellent which is always a feature of Jabra products I have used these extensively over the last while and more so than other headphones putting in some 60 hours before I came to my conclusion and call shine on this a I did take quite a few and another thing to note there is no lag latency( for those that do not know, the lips do not fall behind the visual) on calls or consuming media such as you tube or netflix
The sound, I guess this is the vital bit. Lets just say this…. Its top notch and plenty aloud and as I said with the soundplus app you can make it your own, When listening to all genres,highs,lows and mids they excel and with the bass and treble you are in for a treat end of story Bose and Sony have met their match here with the audio experience and then with SmartSound which uses AI to get your surroundings this is also a great feature and has worked all the time for me and you also get the voice command to let you know you have changed environment.
All in all the Jabra 85h are a win coming in at a good price and cheaper than its main competitors. I am huge headphone and earphone fan but don’t claim to be an audiophile expert but I can honestly say from testing countless pairs of both now over the years and owning a huge collection these will not disappoint you if you can shell out the price, You have to pay to play as they say and these will play music to your ears in one the best audio experiences out there. With the ANC turned on they shine..
Key features of the Jabra Elite 85h
SmartSound: Audio that automatically adapts to your surroundings
One-click access: Voice Assistant access at the push of a button
Four colour variations: Black, Titanium Black, Gold Beige and Navy
Battery: Up to 36-hour battery with ANC activated and 41 hours without ANC
Microphones: 8 microphones in total. 6 dedicated for calls, 4 for ANC and 2 hybrid mics for both calls and ANC.
Speakers: 40 mm custom-engineered speakers
Durability: Unique IP52 dust and rain resistance, backed by a 2-year warranty against water and dust
Personalise: Jabra Sound+ app for SmartSound features, including customised settings
Today, Amazon announced the newest addition to the Echo family—Echo Show 5. With its compact design, 5.5-inch display, rich sound, HD camera, and built-in camera shutter, Echo Show 5 lets Alexa show you things in every room of your home—all for only €89.99.
“Since we launched the first Echo Show device, customers have told us that they love asking Alexa to show them things—whether it’s asking for their favourite recipes to cook along with or adding items to their shopping lists. With Echo Show 5, we’ve made it even easier and affordable for customers to add a smart display to every room of their house,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, VP Amazon Devices EU. “The compact form factor is perfect for a bedside table or desk, plus it has a camera shutter for added peace of mind, and new Alexa privacy features that are coming soon for even more control.”
Compact Design for Rich Entertainment
With rich and full sound, Echo Show 5 is great for watching music videos from Vevo or for listening to your favourite songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn and more. Simply say, “Alexa, play my dinner playlist” to play music for your dinner party.
Echo Show 5 makes it easy to catch up on your favourite shows from Prime Video, or short news clips from Reuters, BBC News, RTÉ and more. Coming soon, a new integration with wikiHow allows you to access hundreds of how-to videos by voice—all you have to do is ask to learn how to meditate, how to cut up a mango or how to open a tight jar.
New Ways to Control Your Smart Home
A new smart home dashboard on all Echo Show devices gives you even more control over compatible smart home devices and groups. You can also view your smart home camera feed and thermostats, access recently used devices, and manage smart devices by group.
With the Arlo baby camera, just say, “Alexa, show me the nursery camera,” to check on your baby when your hands are full. Echo Show 5 also has two-way talk functionality with Ring doorbell cameras. Simply say, “Alexa, answer the front door,” when the doorbell rings or the camera detects motion and you’ll be able to see and talk to whoever is at the front door.
Wake Up and Wind Down with Alexa
Now, there are even more ways to customise your morning and evening routines with Alexa. Set a nighttime routine that turns off your bedroom lamp and starts playing sleep sounds for relaxation. When your alarm goes off in the morning, wake up to an Alexa Sunrise—the screen on Echo Show devices will naturally brighten and display a sunrise animation before your alarm goes off. You can also create a routine that starts your coffee machine 10 minutes after your alarm goes off, or one that gives you weather forecast and morning news when you say “Alexa, start my day.”
Personalise Your Experience
Choose from all-new clock faces or add a personal photo from your latest vacation to make the home screen unique to you and your family. Plus, the new ambient lighting mode auto-adjusts the brightness of the screen based on the brightness of the room—so it’s never too bright or too dark. To get even more from your Alexa experience, swipe left from the far right side of the screen to access shortcuts and discover all that Alexa can do—from smart home controls to recipes, reminders, skills and more.
Connect with Family and Friends
Stay in touch with your closest friends and family with hands-free video calls to those who have an Echo Spot or Echo Show device, the Alexa App, or Skype. Plus, with Echo Show 5 in multiple rooms of your home, you can easily drop in on another room or make an announcement that dinner is ready.
Skills for the Screen
There are already thousands of visual skills from third party developers available on Echo Show devices. Play your favourite TV game shows like Pointless or Deal or No Deal, discover what to watch on TV with the TV Guide skill or get help studying for your driving test with the Driving Theory Test skill. To learn more about skills, you can say “Alexa, show me skills”.
Privacy by Design
Echo devices are built with multiple layers of privacy protections. As with all Echo Show devices, the new Echo Show 5 includes a microphone/camera off button that electronically disconnects both the microphone and camera, and a clear visual indicator that shows when audio or video is streaming to the cloud. Plus, Echo Show 5 has a built-in camera shutter so now you can easily cover the camera, while still being able to talk to Alexa.
Amazon is also introducing new, even easier ways to delete your voice recordings on all Alexa-enabled devices—all you have to do is ask. Coming soon, customers will be able to say “Alexa, delete what I just said” or “Alexa, delete everything I said today” and the respective recordings will be deleted. Plus, a new Alexa Privacy Hub will offer a single source of information on how Echo devices are designed as well as the controls you have over your Alexa experience.
Pricing and Availability
Echo Show 5 is available in Charcoal and Sandstone for €89.99. You can also choose to purchase a magnetic stand that lets you tilt the device to adjust the viewing and camera angles for only €19.99. Both are available for pre-order today at www.amazon.co.uk/echoshow5 and will start shipping in the U.S., United Kingdom & Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia next month, and to India in July. Coming soon, it will also be available in Mexico
Since its launch in 2010, the rise of Instagram has been meteoric. Over 60% of adults online have an account, sharing over 100 million photos per day. But despite the competition, Instagram is still a great place to be noticed.
Three professional photographers who owe some of their success to their Instagram accounts recently got together to share their secrets with O2 Sessions. Quitting their day jobs to follow a shared passion for photography, Bal Bhatla, Vicky Grout and Neil Andrews have learned how to stand out from the crowd.
Getting their hands on some of the best smartphone cameras around in a series of tutorials, they are spreading the message that everybody has the power to take great photos with just a smartphone.
How to take better pictures and stand out on Instagram
Find the right light
Bal Bhatla went from the advertising industry to a low light photography master. He says: “Start with a light source. It could be a streetlamp, a lit shop front, or even the reflection in a puddle. That should give you an interesting image.”
Tech tip: If you’ve taking pictures in low light, set the shutter speed to 1 second and keep ISO low to avoid a grainy picture. When you have a good light source, increase shutter speed.
Focus on the background
It might be tempting to put all your attention onto your subject, but don’t forget about the background. Music lover turned portrait guru Vicky Grout knows this all too well: “If the background isn’t done right, you can ruin the image. You don’t want a background that’s too cluttered or noisy.”
Tech tip: For a focused subject and blurred background, you’ll need to have a small depth of field. You can achieve this by widening your lens. Go for a f-stop number like 1.8 or 2.8.
Find a new angle
Neil Andrews found a fresh perspective when he ditched his job selling greetings cards and started living life through a lens. He learned to stand out from the crowd by capturing familiar London landmarks from new angles. He says that experimentation is key: “Stand in the centre, stand to the side, get symmetry, get asymmetry. Try all kinds of angles. The beauty of today’s devices is that they can store loads of images that can easily be deleted, so take lots of shots until you catch something special.”
Tech tip: For the lowest angle shot possible with a mobile phone, turn your phone upside down so that the camera is close to the floor.
Be community minded
The number of people posting may seem overwhelming, but Instagram is really a platform made up of many small communities. By being an active user, you’ll get more engagement, more followers and more exposure. Engaging with likeminded photographer will also help you develop your skills. Joining in 2011, Neil Andrews quickly joined a London photography group: “It was great to go and talk to them, be inspired by them, see what they did, find out what apps they used, what was their style of photography and meet people with the same passion as me.”
Tech tip: Hashtags are how most people search Instagram. Make yours specific to each picture so that people can find your work.
Go manual
While most modern smartphones have the kind of AI that can take great picture just on automatic, they also let you tinker with the settings on Pro Mode. By playing with ISO, shutter speed or aperture, you can find ways to make your pictures truly your own. Having your own distinct look and feel is essential for standing out from the crowd.
Tech tip: Most flagship phones will have custom settings slots where you can save your perfect set ups.
Start off with these tips and you’ll soon make a name for yourself on Instagram. For more in-depth tutorials from Bal, Vicky and Neil check out their O2 sessions video tutorials.
Over half (57%) of Irish office workers believe that a four-day working week is likely in the near-future as technology makes work practices more efficient, according to a new survey by Ricoh. The study also found that 43% of Irish workers expect all or part of their roles to be automated within the next five years as a result of technological advancements. I for one would certainly be up for a 4 day week but how about you???
The research, commissioned by Ricoh Europe and conducted by Coleman Parkes, involved 4,580 office workers from across 24 countries, including 150 from Ireland.
The survey also revealed that salary (54%), flexible working hours (39%), learning opportunities (38%) and a work-life balance (37%) are the top priorities for workers when looking for a job.
In terms of flexible working, more than a third (38%) of those surveyed cited it as an approach that would increase productivity in the workplace. Moreover, 35% revealed that the opportunity to work remotely more often would also boost output, with 31% identifying better tools to facilitate seamless remote working as an impactful strategy.
The findings showed that Irish employers are lagging behind their UK counterparts in facilitating flexible working options for employees. Only 41% of Irish workers feel that their employer frequently adapts its working practices to their needs, in comparison to 54% of their UK counterparts.
This sentiment is felt across all generations of the workforce in Ireland with less than half of workers agreeing that their employers are doing enough to keep up with evolving employee needs. The most recent generation to enter the workforce (Generation Z) is least impressed, with only 36% agreeing that their employers frequently adapt to meet their requirements.
Chas Moloney, director, Ricoh Ireland and UK
Chas Moloney, director, Ricoh Ireland & UK, said: “There is no doubt that the concept of the traditional workplace has changed significantly in recent years. Interest in and appetite for a four-day work week is growing – people want to work less hours but be more effective and productive with the time they spend working.
“Therefore, it’s very disappointing that Irish business leaders are not recognising this trend and adopting more flexible ways of working to motivate, encourage and retain staff. After all, a happier workforce often equates to increased employee productivity, business performance and company growth.
“Understandably, it is more complex nowadays for employers as they have to meet the expectations of four different generations in the workplace. However, it is crucial that they do so and it’s clear from our research that every generation wants to work smarter.
“If Irish business leaders are to succeed and make the concept of the four-day work week a reality, they need to enable individual workstyles with the right technologies and agile approaches. Otherwise, they could find themselves struggling to attract, keep and empower people.”
