According to data from Cartell, the average age of a car on Irish roads is now 8.55 years. There are countless ageing vehicles that don’t have many of the safety technologies that are available in newer models.
This means that the majority of Irish drivers are missing out on technology that could potentially save their lives. For example, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that forward-collision warning systems can reduce the risk of a crash by 27%. Rather than shelling out for a new car that has all the bells and whistles, you may want to look into purchasing some aftermarket add-ons instead.
The good news is that there’s enough out there right now to turn virtually any old banger into a safer car. Whether you bought your car last week or have been driving the same car for decades, aftermarket add-ons can be a great way to upgrade your vehicle’s overall safety. What’s more, many aftermarket tech add-ons are surprisingly easy and affordable to install.
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If you are looking to upgrade the safety features in your car this year, then you should read this guide from Hussey Fraser. This handy infographic lays out the ten best aftermarket add-ons to help make older vehicles safer such as dash cams, blind spot detection and much more.
UMI is an Amazon brand which has multiple products on offer on its store and they have a few tech products alongside other products such a house and home materials, Recently we reviewed the UMI W5s here which are an affordable pair of true wireless.
Today we have the new W8 true wireless in for review which again are coming in at a cheap price point for those not looking to splash out on the more expensive offerings out there today, They do come with the mods and cons and all the controls you need are on the earbuds without the need to use your phone to make some commands, Check out the first look below and if you have any questions feel free to ask whilst we take these on a test run.
According to PayPal’s Global mCommerce Report*, 61% of businesses are expected to embrace social commerce in 2020. The global survey, carried out by Ipsos for PayPal, involved 22,000 consumers and 4,602 businesses across the world.
The research showed that 35% of businesses currently accept social commerce, with a further 26% planning to accept it in 2020. Those that are already using it have seen 45% of their sales transactions made via social channels over the last six months.
On average, 30% of consumers have used social commerce in the past six months. Of these social shoppers, a third (33%) are purchasing via social platforms weekly. The most popular platform for shopping is Facebook, followed by Instagram and WhatsApp.
However, the global research revealed that 36% of consumers said they would not consider buying through social platforms, with security and trust as the biggest concerns. Twenty-one per cent of shoppers said they had abandoned a purchase due to security concerns.
The global research found that 63% of businesses are optimised to accept mobile payments on their channels and only 24% of these have a mobile app with purchasing functionality.
This is despite the fact that almost 80% of consumers have used their smartphone to make a purchase previously and almost half shopping via their mobile device at least weekly. Globally, mobile devices are the most preferred way to pay online with 44% of consumers opting to shop this way.
Maeve Dorman, Vice President of Global Merchant Services, PayPal
Maeve Dorman, Vice President of Global Merchant Services, PayPal, said: “The opportunity for Irish businesses is vast. With both mobile and social commerce on the rise, there is huge potential for them to target a much larger audience and drive business growth within Ireland and further afield.
“This demand for mobile and social commerce will only increase in the years to come. Not only do consumers want to be able to shop on the go from wherever they are, they want greater choice and peace of mind during the purchasing process.
“Therefore, businesses need to ensure they are providing a simple and secure purchasing process with trusted payment options via mobile-friendly platforms and social media channels. Only then will they be able to make the most of their online selling potential and fulfil consumer expectations.”
Tech 21 have sent us over one of their cases to check out for the iPhone 11 which is one of many available in their wide range of products on site which covers tablets,laptops and mobiles, They also have got cases for Airpods too should you need to pick up one for your own which look really well and will protect that glossy case.
This case is made with plant based materials and has 8ft drop protection, with antimicrobial protection,thin and 32% plant based alongside their 100% recyclable packaging, This case comes in a range of colours and there is a wide variety of style available too and TECH 21 always have a great range at hand which gives the consumer a good choice.
The case keeps all ports free and easily accessible with a lip around the front of the case and the camera hump protected too,this means the device can be placed face down and rear down without the need to worry about scratching either side,the buttons work really well and remain tactile and do not effect the travel on the keys,you also get a but more grip with this case and it looks well and there is several colours to pick from, Check out the video below and you can check out the range HERE
Noreve is a brand we have been using some years now and one that offers great looks a luxury feel and customised cases for you smartphones and more which are all handmade individually which is really nice and this is time consuming as you have an option to pick colours, texture and ad ons to your case where allowed.
This case offers the basic protection yet gives you iPhone a really business like look and this look shy’s away from the norm which is gel or plastic cases and also they give you addition grip not effecting the features on any device with your keys and ports fully accessible yet protected with a nice seamless design all round that complements the lines on the phone.
This beautiful luxury case is equipped with a thermoplastic inner frame to provide better protection for the iPhone 11 without disrupting its operation.
Robust the case is yet professional looking this case is will keep your phone from harms way and can be placed face down with a slight lip on top and the rear camera and lens is protected too which enables you to place the device down on its back, As the iPhone 11 is face unlock most people might do so anyway.
With Noreve, customising your cover becomes possible and above all easy. Start by choosing from the finishes available: Evolution, Perpétuelle, Ambition, Exception, Pulsion, etc. Then select the colour that best suits your style. If you wish, our leather craftsmen will add slots for business or credit cards, engrave your initials or logo on the leather, etc. If you plan to offer this cover to a close friend or family who has an iPhone 11 (2019), we have a tailor-made packaging that will preserve the element of surprise.
Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT), a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, today unveils Poly Lens, a new cloud-based insights and management service. Initially available in a fully supported commercial preview, Poly Lens combines seamless management and updating tools with powerful insight into how Poly devices are actually being used to offer greater control and simplicity to IT departments.
Poly Lens joins the company’s complete end-to-end unified communications portfolio on display at Integrated Systems Europe 2020 (UC Hall; Booths 11-B140 and 11 A-150).
“Today’s businesses understand that the right communications and collaboration tools can increase productivity, but there’s a blind spot when it comes to how these tools are adopted and used by their workforce,” said Beau Wilder, vice president and general manager of infrastructure, cloud and analytics for Poly. “Poly Lens provides the next-level of visibility into collaboration spaces and device use without the need to install additional infrastructure.”
Organisations crave transparency and want information surrounding the successes and failures of workspace implementations, including the use of new tools or devices. Poly Lens aggregates data and offers customers a unique overview that lets them turn insights into actions.
Poly will continue to update the commercial preview of Poly Lens to add new capabilities, ultimately converging Poly’s endpoint management solutions into one convenient service. Today, Poly Lens brings management and updating capabilities to the new Poly Studio X family of video bars as well as the Poly G7500. Over time, Poly Lens will evolve to support Poly headsets and phone offerings in addition to an ever-increasing array of new insights.
Key features of the Poly Lens service include:
Device Management– Poly Lens supports frictionless device onboarding, setting configurations, map-based inventory management, and software upgrades. For example, customers can use Poly Lens today to ensure that their Studio X video bars and G7500 solutions will always have access to the latest Poly MeetingAI features and capabilities. Having the right technology and tools in place is critical to help IT quickly and properly deploy the most suitable mission-critical collaboration devices, services, and systems. Poly Lens provides a simple and modern interface for IT managers and administrators to quickly and effectively deploy, provision and manage their Poly devices.
Intelligent Insights – Poly Lens identifies and prioritises actionable insights that help maximise user adoption and device uptime through an intelligent news feed. The news feed ensures the most important and urgent insights are always at the top of the feed, helping IT managers more efficiently address any issues that might arise. Coming soon, Poly Lens will provide room-based insights to help IT and facilities planners optimise their physical workspace now and into the future.
Cloud-based Service – With more businesses moving their operations to cloud-based technology, Poly Lens delivers a flexible and secure solution that enables businesses to be more agile and innovative – instantly. Customers can also migrate between video-as-a-service providers without losing valuable and historical insights.
“Businesses are struggling to keep pace with the proliferation of devices needed for the digital workplace and multi-generational workforce, combined with high costs of real estate,” said Melissa Fremeijer, Senior Research Analyst, European Telecommunications and Networking, IDC. “Now more than ever, companies have to optimise shared workspaces and tools to stay competitive. This will continue to fuel the need for intelligent devices that provide data-driven, actional insights and can be deployed in an easy and scalable way.”
Poly Lens Availability
Poly Lens is available now worldwide as a fully supported commercial preview at no charge. More details on pricing and commercialisation will be available in the first half of 2020. For more information on Poly Lens, please visit: poly.com/lens.
Join Poly at ISE 2020
Poly Lens is one of a host of Poly solutions that connect across and between unified communications platforms to reduce the distractions, complexity, and distance in the modern workspace. In addition to Poly Lens, Poly will feature Poly Studio X video bars, Poly Savi 8200 Office and UC Series headsets, Voyager Office Series headsets, Poly Elara 60 Series mobile phone station and Poly G7500.
Poly solutions will also be on display at the following ISE booths:
With more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, mobile gaming on smartphones and tablets makes up 45% of the total market. Keeping this growing mobile gaming base in mind, OffGamers recognises that the option to buy international airtime or data on its platform offers real value to mobile gaming customers. Internet access is essential to mobile gaming and being able to quickly top up mobile airtime for friends or loved ones abroad is a natural addition to OffGamers global product offering.
By partnering with DT One, OffGamers have real-time access to DT One’s global B2B network of more than 550 mobile operators across 160 countries, allowing customers to buy airtime instantly in more than 100 currencies.
“We believe that our mobile top-up solution will prove to be a convenient and useful service for OffGamers customers. This partnership allows OffGamers to integrate their platform with the DT One network, giving access to over five billion customers our network can reach,” says Krishnadeep Baruah DT One’s EVP of Sales, Asia-Pacific.
“We’re excited to partner with DT One and offer international airtime top-up as a new addition to our product offerings. With the tremendous rise in popularity of mobile gaming in recent years, we believe offering airtime top-ups will greatly benefit our customers. DT One’s extensive coverage of mobile top-ups will complement our existing products so that we can provide more options to our customers across all regions. We believe that we’ll see great things from this partnership,” says Karyn Thng, Business Director of OffGamers.
The super folks at Plantronics have sent us over a few products to check out and there is something for everyone here. We have got the Plantronics Voyager 3240/5200 6200 UC and Calisto 5200.
We will be reviewing these over the next few weeks on our YouTube and will be heading that way with reviews going forward with real hands on tech reviews and a deep look into the products. If you have any questions feel free to ask there or below or on any of our social media and we will gladly answer any questions you might have.
The Aukey T21 are a budget pair of true wireless earbuds and at this price you will question on how good they can be, Like I have said before the cost to performance ratio is coming down on true wireless as it has on smartphones and something to keep in mind Aukey have had a constant good audio signature from what I have tested over the last few months.
First notable thing here is the fit, they fit really well and they are really comfortable and will not budge from the ears,the noise isolation is better than expected and they sit well. They have a plain bland look with no buttons on board but that is fine and at this price point you really cant complain when you get the sound they deliver.
Build quality is simple and a plastic affair with IPX4 rating which will suit most people like commuters or for those who want to have a spare pair lying around or if you are heading off for a trip or camping weekend and dont want to bring your more expensive ones away.
The touch controls for me where fine with simple commands to follow. Double tap on the left and right to play and pause, Triple tap either side to get access to your voice assistant and a long press left or right to skip or reverse tracks and that is all there is to it. There is no volume control here which is fine but something to think about,being honest it does not bother me and again you have to think of the price.
There is no auto play or pause and they can be used individually once not in the case, the right side will work with the left charging and the left wont with the right side charging in the case, again people like to know these things.
Calls are fine and clear here too on both sides, The audio experience though is where they excell for the price, they have a nice bass level though not too deep and overall the sound experience is bright and well balanced and you will not be disappointed at all,there is no lag latency whilst watching Netflix or You Tube and the volume level is quite decent so for me the max is the better level but that is my personal taste.
Battery life is around the 4 hour mark which is fine but you get 25 hours in total with the case which is not to sniffed at and these are on par with the companies claims with two full charge and discharges.. So for the money are they worth it?? An easy yes if you want something clean and just works minus the aesthetics and just do the job they are meant to do and these do just that and more for the price tag. Tested on both Android and iOS and work fine with both.
Technology: BT 5, A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP
Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5
Driver: 1x 6mm / 0.24” speaker driver
Operating Range: Up to 10m / 33ft
Battery Life: Up to 5 hours
Input: DC 5V
Charging Time: 2 hours
Battery Type: Li-Polymer (2 x 40mAh)
Weight: 9g / 0.32oz
Charging Case: Li-Polymer (380mAh)
Number of Earbuds Recharges: 4 times (pair)
