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.
Google launches a new tool today called Grow My Store which aims to help retailers improve their customer online and omnichannel experiences. As users become more demanding about the information and service they expect online, Grow My Store rates retailers’ websites and generates bespoke reports with recommendations to help businesses improve the online experience they offer and grow their business.
The site will initially be available in English, French, and Spanish speaking countries (including Ireland), with other European countries to follow in 2019.
Depending on the business involved, recommendations may include suggestions on clear pricing and intuitive navigation, personalising the experience for shoppers, providing live chat support, or making sure the site is mobile-friendly. Grow My Store tests retailers against up to 22 metrics based on in-depth studies into customer experience best practices, and builds on the success of Market Finder, a free tool which helps businesses to go global by guiding them along the export journey step by step.
The announcement comes soon after the launch of a new Grow with Google programme in Ireland which will see the company train more than 8,000 SMEs through workshops across the country and also through partnerships with state agencies. Grow with Google is a global initiative that builds on Google’s efforts of training people and businesses to acquire the right digital skills to embrace new opportunities ahead. The first regional Grow with Google workshop will be held in The Theatre Royal in Waterford on the 10th of June, followed by NUIG Galway on the 24th of June.
Fionnuala Meehan, Head of Google Ireland and VP EMEA Google Customer Solutions, said: “For retailers of all sizes, their website is their digital flagship store, so Google wants to help retailers to make their online and omnichannel customer experience as appealing as possible to customers. That’s why we have built a tool that brings together all this valuable insight into one place and then uses that insight to create bespoke recommendations for retailers providing clear support and advice.”
Retailer websites should be a number one priority for both online and multichannel retailers, with 90% of EMEA shoppers who visited a store in the last week saying they used online search prior to going in-store. Despite rising customer expectations many retailers across EMEA are failing to provide a best in class experience with 23% of retailers not publishing any contact information of their stores on their website.
Fishbrain, the world’s most popular social network for anglers with eight million users worldwide, is unveiling significant updates to its WearOS app, with Google Assistant integration enabling anglers to log catches with their voice, meaning they don’t have to worry about taking their phone out of their pocket or bag during a fishing trip.
Available as a featured app on the Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30, Fishbrain is also introducing BiteTime™, the world’s most advanced machine learning-powered fishing forecast, to a smartwatch for the very first time, providing premium users with cutting-edge analytical data, accessible on their wrist.
The updated Fishbrain WearOS app is a joint development between Fishbrain and Casio, with its functions being optimized for Casio devices that are designed to operate in widely varied environments, meeting users’ toughest outdoor needs.
Fishbrain, backed by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s VC firm, was recently showcased at Google I/O, with the company using AutoML Vision Edge to identify the breed of a fish in a photo, and to also scan images to detect whether a fish is present in it – https://firebase.googleblog.com/2019/05/whats-new-Google-IO-2019.html
Liam is back with his Sony L3 Review. Sony has gone back to a more standard smartphone design for the Xperia L3 with its rounder finish. For the money its excellent value for an entry level device. It feels very comfortable in the hand even though the rear is a shiny polycarbonate surface it does offer some grip.
On the top of the phone there’s a headphone jack and its good to see that there are two microphones on the phone to help with call quality, as now standard on Sony phones there is the USB-C connection at the bottom of the phone along with the single speaker.The card tray is a combined Microsd (up to 512GB) and nano sim which is easily accessed from the side cover.
Sony has re-introduced the side-mounted fingerprint sensor and having used it for a while I found it a better alternative to the rear mounted fingerprint sensors on the side is also the power and volume rocker.
Screen.
On the front the screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 so that should prevent scratches and screen breakages the Xperia L3 has a large 5.7’’ HD+ screen with a 18:9 format so you do get a good lot of viewing area which is always a good thing to have.
Watching videos on Netflix and YouTube the screen was sharp and it gave decent detail when viewing but colours were a little bit washed out. In bright daylight conditions I found the screen not as bright as it could have been but for the money it did a good job.
The notification LED next to the front camera is quite handy so you don’t miss notifications
Audio
As there’s a headphone jack on the phone you can use your own wired headphones and if they have in-line controls that worked for me without any problem. Also included is an FM Radio but it will need headphones plugged into the phone as it uses them as the FM antenna.The Xperia L3 has only one main music speaker it performed well considering.
Camera
The camera setup is a dual 13 Mega Pixel (1/3.0 sensor size, Pixel Pitch 1.12 μm, F2.2 Lens) and a 2 Mega Pixel (1/5.0 sensor size, Pixel Pitch 1.75 μm, F2.4 Lens)
The updated camera app is very quick to launch and the layout of the settings is clear and easy to understand.In daylight conditions it took decent shots and while zooming the pictures didn’t introduce too much noise also included are modes Bokeh, Portrait Selfie which is an artistic selfie with Bokeh with other face effects and Panorama.
Lowlight and flash samples
In indoor conditions with less light I did find some detail is lost.
Video records in Full HD and while outside videos shot in daylight recorded in good quality I found indoor videos with less light to be a little grainy the coloring to be slightly off the actual colors and zooming does introduce some lost of detail. The front camera in outside light took good quality pictures while inside in dark conditions it took adequate selfies as it uses a screen flash.
Zoom samples.
Battery:-
The battery capacity in the Xperia L3 is good sized 3300mAh .There is also a feature that Sony call Xperia Adaptive Charging which checks your battery’s health when plugged in and adjusts the charge level to make sure battery isn’t overworked this increases the lifespan of the battery and there’s also USB power Delivery fast charging.
I found the battery able to handle at a day of heavy use no problem and there is a Battery saver mode which lets you squeeze more out of the battery as it reduces device performance and disables most background syncing.
Performance
The Xperia L3 runs Android Oreo 8.1 out of the box and will be upgraded to Pie soon, Sony has uses it own lightly skinned version of Android and the Homescreen app is nice and light.
As the phones runs the Mediatek MT6762 processor with 3GB RAM its not blazing fast, but it performed tasks adequately and overall the phone was quiet responsive. Internal memory is only 32GB so you will definitely need a memory card as installed apps (of which there isn’t too many) took up 12GB leaving you with only around 20GB.
Liam Burke is a regular contributor here when it comes to Sony in Particular check out his findings on the Sony Xperia 10 and then the L3.
I was lucky to get to try out two of Sony Mobile’s latest offerings the Xperia X10 and the Xperia L3.
Sony have changed from its current design back to more of its traditional designs probably due to the return of the side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Sony have definitely embraced dual rear cameras as they are on both devices.
Xperia 10
Sony’s new Xperia 10 is definitely something new from them it has their new “cinematic” 21:9 6’’ inch display which is aimed at multi-tasking and viewing video. It’s a long tall phone and Sony have slimmed down the bottom bezel so there is quiet a lot of that 21:9 cinema screen in the phone. Its great value for money for a mid-range device.
It’s a bit of an unusual shape to hold in the hand as its more narrower than current phones and taller but after a few days of use you do become accustomed to it.
Making a welcome return from previous Sony phones is the side-mounted fingerprint sensor which I found very ergonomic to be able to unlock the phone with my thumb also on the side of the phone is a separate power button and a volume rocker.
On top you find the headphone jack and one of two microphones, on the side is a flap which covers the nano sim tray and also a microsd tray (Supports up to 512GB).And on the bottom is the now standard USB-C connection and the monospeaker. The rear surface is a metal surface with led flash and the dual camera lens just a millimeter raised above it.
Screen
The screen is the main item that sets the Xperia 10 apart from the competition is its 6’’ Full HD+ LCD but with the ultra-widescreen aspect ratio 21:9 the ultra wide display is certainly different. Sony has commented that as more and more content is being shot in that ratio (nearly 70% of new Netflix and Amazon Prime) so you will get the full effect of it with its 21:9 display. When viewing new content from Netflix its great not to have the any of the screen wasted also as it’s a HD+ screen I found it gave plenty of detail and videos looked sharp. Using the outside in sunlight the screen was quite readable. The screen is made with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 so it should withstand drops and scratches.
Audio
As there’s a headphone jack on the phone you can use your own wired headphones and if they have in-line controls that worked for me without any problem.Also included is an FM Radio it performed quite well but it will need headphones plugged into the phone as it uses them as the FM antenna. The Xperia 10 only has one music speaker it performed reasonably as Sony have added High-Res Audio.
Camera:-
The camera setup is a dual 13 Mega Pixel (1/3.0 sensor size, Pixel Pitch 1.12 μm, F2.0 Lens) and a 5 Mega Pixel (1/4.0 sensor size, Pixel Pitch 1.4 μm, F2.4 Lens) The updated camera app is very quick to launch and the layout of the settings is clear and easy to understand.
In daylight conditions it took decent shots and while zooming the pictures didn’t introduce too much noise also included are modes Bokeh, Portrait Selfie which is an artistic selfie with Bokeh included with other face effects , Panorama and a Manual setting which allows you to tweak the photo settings to your personal tastes, for most of my pictures I let the Auto mode chose which were the correct settings to use.
Lowlight and flash samples
5 x Zoom is quiet good with the dual camera setup. In indoor conditions with less light I did find the pictures were a bit grainy. Video records in 4K and while outside videos shot in daylight recorded in good quality I found indoor videos with less light to be a little grainy the coloring to be slightly off the actual colors and zooming does introduce some loss of detail. 120fps Slow Motion Video is also a nice video recording feature.
Zoom example.
The front camera in outside light took good quality pictures while inside in dark conditions it took decent selfies as uses a screen flash. Front video records in Full HD it also has Sony’s Steadyshot feature for videos recording so they aren’t too bumpy.
Battery
The battery capacity in the Xperia 10 is good sized 2870mAh.Some battery features are “Battery care” which learns your battery charging habits and adapts how the phone charges again this helps increase the lifespan of the battery. Smart stamina and Stamina mode are also included which you can enable to restrict some background activity and increase your battery life, and if you need it there is an Ultra Stamina Mode which enables only a few apps like phone and camera to giving you an extra long battery life.
I found the battery able to handle a day of heavy use no problem.
Performance
The Xperia 10 runs Android Pie out of the box Sony uses it own lightly skinned version of Android the updated homescreen app is a bit of mix of iOS and android with the swipe up gesture to see your running apps.As the phones runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor with 3GB RAM its quiet fast and overall the phone was quiet responsive. Internal memory is 64GB so you may need a memory card as installed apps (of which there isn’t too many) took up 16GB.
Also included is the Side sense feature which allows you to select a part of the screen to bring up shortcuts, I found this feature a bit of a hit-or-miss. Split Screen feature is a feature that all Google apps like YouTube, Chrome, Messaging, Phone etc allow you to split the screen in two so the top part of the screen can be one app like YouTube and the lower part can have another app open like Chrome.
Visit the Sony Xperia 10 Cinema for your chance to win a Spiderman Experience in London.
Located in the Eir store at 37 Henry Street, the Sony Xperia 10 Cinema is a fit-to-scale movie theatre experience, showcasing the latest technology in mobile innovation. A second Sony Xperia 10 Cinema will also be on display in the Three store on Grafton Street, starting 1st May. More details here:-
Virgin Media Ireland has unveiled ground breaking upgrades to their In-Home WiFi Hub that will add to their status as the nation’s leading broadband provider, with the revolutionary technology activated in all customers’ WiFi hubs automatically by the end of this week.
The development will provide all Virgin customers with Ireland’s fastest widely available broadband speeds in more areas of their home.
Channel Optimisation is a game-changing addition to the Virgin Media modem that will automatically change WiFi channels. The system chooses channels with the least amount of interference ensuring the best connectivity and fastest service is obtained by all devices being used in the home.
Paul Farrell, Vice President of Commercial, Virgin Media and Ruairi McGowan, Product Manager for Connectivity at Virgin Media at the launch of their new Smart WiFi updates that will provide all Virgin customers with Irelands fastest widely available broadband speeds in more areas of their home. Pic Brian McEvoy
Airtime Fairness is a second addition that will ensure equal allocation of airtime to connected devices an ensure they achieve their highest possible speeds.
“There’s a lot of noise and confusion around what comes next for broadband and WiFi and the focus up to this point has been around the race to improve speed of service, but we want to move away from that and focus on what consumers get from their service and their quality of connectivity for multiple devices,” states Paul Farrell, Vice President of Commercial at Virgin Media Ireland.
“Currently, we have an average of a little over ten devices using a Virgin Media WiFi hub in a home at present. That number is expected to rise to as many as 50 devices in the years ahead and what we have at Virgin Media is a hub that is ready for that level of expansion.
“We have been certified as having the best modem in the marketplace and now we’re looking to add functionality to that to ensure this debate moves beyond speed.
“You can have a Ferrari, but if the road isn’t connected or you have no petrol in the tank, it won’t give you the great experience you expect from it and what we are doing at Virgin Media now is providing the full package.”
Virgin Media Ireland are rolling out technological innovations that will enhance the experience for all customers, with the new additions to our modem that is already certified as the best in the Irish market taking the service to a new level.
“This is the start of our smart WiFi journey,” says Ruairi McGowan, Product Manager for Connectivity at Virgin Media Ireland. “This is chapter one and we are starting from a great base as we’re really confident in our hub, confident in our speed and convinced we have the best engineers to ensure the best possible in-home solution for our customers.
“What we’re focusing on now is the inner workings of the box and future proofing what is to come to ensure it can cope with anything our customers may throw at us in the coming years.
“What we aim to do with this upgrade is ensure our customers will never need to look at ways to improve their WiFi connection or consider rebooting their modem, as it will all be done for them through our smart hub.
“We’re rolling these revolutionary innovations out to all our customers automatically and by the end of this week, every Virgin Media Ireland customer will have Channel Optimisation and Airtime Fairness active in their home.”
Irish Life has today announced the launch of MyLife, the first healthcare app in Ireland that empowers all people to monitor and improve their own Health Score. The innovative app measures overall health, encouraging an individual to make positive lifestyle changes to improve their Health Score. MyLife, available to everyone in Ireland, gives consumers the knowledge to take control of their own health.
MyLife encourages users to select and set a fitness, nutrition or lifestyle goal each month. People will earn points when they engage with the app and complete their goal, track their exercise, get sufficient sleep, answer the Health Coach’s questions and track their weight. Irish Life customers can redeem these points in the online Reward Store and premium customers can claim great rewards.***
Research by Behaviours & Attitudes into the health of the Irish population, based on preliminary information from the MyLife app, highlights some worrying trends:
13% of all adults take no exercise at all per week
15% say they don’t do anything physical during the working day
Only 34% do more than 3.5 hours exercise a week
45% of us have suffered from a serious medical condition in the past 12 months, while 21% have suffered stress or depression
Younger adults are the most unwell of all – particularly in their experience of seasonal illness and mental stress and depression
Further research indicates that smoking is still a major concern with 20% of the adult population smoking an average of 12 cigarettes a day
Commenting on the launch of MyLife, Prof. Niall Moyna, of the Centre for Preventive Medicine at Dublin City University said “We are living in an era of healthcare where the role of the patient has evolved, empowered by the rapid adoption of digital health technologies. It’s well known that individuals who take charge of their health and actively participate in decisions about healthcare delivery have better health outcomes.MyLife provides individuals with the opportunity to take a more proactive and preventive approach to healthcare, enabling people to understand potential health risks and adjust their lifestyle accordingly before problems arise.”
He continued, “Many medical conditions result from poor lifestyle choices including inactivity, smoking, inadequate sleep and excessive alcohol consumption. The unique MyLife app monitors lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity, to show the individual just how impactful these small actions are on their Health Score. Empowering and enabling the individual creates an engaged patient which is a positive move in the right direction. In short – those who think they have no time for exercise will sooner or later have to find the time for illness.”
Speaking about the launch of the new MyLife app, David Harney, CEO Irish Life said “At Irish Life we are passionate about helping people build a better future. We are delighted to be the first Irish Insurance company bringing this level of digital innovation to market. MyLife gives everyone, not only Irish Life customers, everything that they need to better understand their own personal health with a view to improving it.”
AMI, Ireland’s leading secure IT recycling company, today announces that its clients received €2.5 million from the resale of their old IT equipment in 2018 – 25% more than the amount returned in 2017.
The funds were generated through the recycling, refurbishment and resale of 85,000 PCs and laptops, collected from AMI’s clients as part of their IT retirement process. This represents a 270% increase on the number of devices resold compared to 2017. In total the company processed 17% more items in 2018 than in 2017, amounting to 435,000 items including laptops, PCs, USB sticks, hard drives, smartphones, and tablets.
AMI works with clients such as data centres, banks, blue-chip corporations and government departments to securely dispose of their old and unwanted IT equipment. As part of the process, the company refurbishes the IT equipment collected from these companies and resells it through its retail arm, RefreshedByUs.
AMI, which is one of only four companies in the world to hold the highest ADISA accreditation for excellence in IT disposal, uses advanced equipment and Blancco data erasure software to ensure that all data-bearing equipment is cleansed to the most stringent global standards before resale. Last year, the company destroyed 85,000 terabits of data.
Pictured at the announcement that AMI has returned 2.5M million to its clients through the resale of their old IT equipment in 2018 is Philip McMichael, CEO, AMI.
Philip McMichael, managing director, AMI, said: “Nine out of 10 of our customers don’t pay AMI a fee for the secure processing of their old and unwanted IT equipment, as the revenue we return to them from the refurbished and resold equipment covers the cost of our services. We are delighted that we increased returns to clients by 25% last year while also ensuring their old IT equipment was refurbished using ironclad processes.
“The reputational risks that are associated with incorrectly disposing of end-of-life equipment are colossal, which is why companies need to be security-conscious. We provide a world-class IT disposal service to our clients that not only minimises the risk of potential data breaches and meets GDPR requirements, but also ensures a good revenue return on data-bearing items.”
In January this year, AMI announced a strategic €3.5 million investment in the company with major growth plans for the Irish and UK markets. This investment will go towards expanding the company’s premises and growing the team.
Philip continued: “Companies of every size are starting to realise that there is more to secure IT disposal than meeting regulatory requirements and we are here to help them unlock the hidden value in their old IT equipment. For items that require disposal, we achieved a zero-landfill result in 2018, so businesses can be rest assured in the fact that 100% of disposals were handled in an environmentally responsible way.
Another day another email scam this time Dunnes Stores is at the helm. This is a sly one too with the header as Dunnes Stores voucher not only that its a subscription service which will just take money from your account and there has been issues with this in the past too when it comes to unsub from the. You can read up more about them here
Dunnes have got back to me on the matter but i do not like how they did it by sending me a direct message despite me tweeting them on Twitter,this is NOT proactive and they should have answered me in the public domain as that is where I brought the issue up. In short the face image then is not an actual Dunnes stores card but one that looks very similar but most importantly DO NOT give any details to these cowboys.
With themes ranging from MedTech to Product Design, the Distributed Workplace to Blockchain and the Media, this year’s Inspirefest 2019 is sure to engage the most inquisitive of minds. Over 50 global business leaders and thinkers will address these themes and much more at the two-day Inspirefest festival of technology, science, design and the arts, taking place in Dublin on May 16th and 17th.
As one of Europe’s leading sci-tech and arts event, this year’s festival will again feature a range of high-profile international speakers in a series of discussions and talks in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, where some 4,000 attendees will gather over two days.
Some of the names taking part this year include Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch and former advisor to the Obama Administration’s Office of Digital Strategy; Angela Saini, the award-winning BBC science journalist and author of Inferior which was named Physics World Book of the Year, and Erika Cheung, a champion of ethics in entrepreneurship, best known as the whistle blower in the Theranos scandal, featured in the recent HBO documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.
You’ll also get to hear from Cat Oyler, Vice President, Global Public Health, Tuberculosis at Johnson & Johnson, who will speak about the company’s vision of a world without disease. Janssen, the pharmaceutical company of J&J, will also be facilitating a panel discussion at Inspirefest on Mental Health Literacy and what employers can do to create a workplace that understands and supports mental wellbeing. Reggie Selma, former CNN senior photojournalist who has filmed US presidents from Reagan to Obama will also feature on our exciting agenda.
Inspirefest founder Ann O’Dea said:“The calibre of speakers we’ve gathered for this year’s festival is truly special. It also reinforces how big a part Ireland plays on the global stage when it comes to hosting world-class sci-tech events.
We’re always looking to gain alternative perspectives and explore challenging issues with our line-up of speakers and we hope our attendees learn more about the impact of science and technology on work culture, global business and our personal lives.”
Britney NoMayo, Inspirefest founder, Ann O’Dea and activist and aspiring astronaut, Taylor Richardson, at the first day of Inspirefest 2018 in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Cat Oyler, Vice President, Global Public Health, Tuberculosis at Johnson & Johnson, said, “At Johnson & Johnson, our vision is a world without disease. This is an ambitious goal, to be sure, but we believe it is achievable with the right passion, determination and ingenuity.
Solving some of the world’s largest health challenges – from HIV and tuberculosis to mental illness and cancer – requires us to upend conventional medicine. Our scientists think differently about disease, striving to advance the most compelling science in prevention, disease interception and cure. But none of this can be achieved alone.
We need like-minded people from across sectors and in different industries, who are equally relentless at challenging the status quo, in order to transform the healthcare ecosystem. Events such as Inspirefest play a key role in helping to nurture new ideas and opportunities for collaboration – ultimately bringing us one step closer to a world without disease.”
