One of the leading wireless headphones in the below USD100 category just got better. At CES 2019, Jabra is launching the new Jabra Move Style Edition – an upgraded version of the acclaimed on-ear wireless headphones, Jabra Move. We checked out the last iteration of the Jabra Move in 2015 and they still work fine to this day and the new update looks really well and stylish
Engineered for wireless music on-the-move, the Move Style Edition offers an improved battery life of up to 14 hours, whilst offering the same great sound, comfort and light weight. It comes in three new stylish colours: Titanium Black, Gold Beige and Navy, replicating the colour line-up of another new Jabra introduction at CES, the top-of-the-range Jabra 85h.
Since the introduction of the Jabra Move, the headphones have been widely recognized in its category for their superior wireless sound and high-quality music experience. The Move allows users to control calls directly from the headphones. The comfortable and lightweight headband combined with soft on-ear cups is angled for great fit and immersive sound. And when you are out of battery or can’t connect wirelessly, the optional 3.5 mm cable has you covered.
“The Jabra Move is one of the most popular on-ear wireless headphones because it offers a great wireless experience for calls and music on-the-move at an affordable price. It has long been a customer favourite and by adding improved battery life and three new colour options to the existing great features, we expect the Move Style Edition to become must-have Bluetooth headphones,” said Calum MacDougall, SVP Marketing, at Jabra.
Key features of the Jabra Move Style Edition:
Sound: Superior wireless sound with music control
Battery life: Enjoy up to 14 hours of play
Design: Ultra-light headband tested to withstand life on the go
Stylish: New colour shades – Titanium Black, Gold Beige and Navy
Availability & pricing
Find out more about the Jabra Move Style Edition at: www.jabra.co.uk. The headset will be available from mid-January, 2019 at selected retailers, MSRP 89.99 GBP.
We have just started a new year and many of us will have got a brand new shiny mobile phone or tablet for Christmas. We have been using cases from Noreve some years now and they are a premium case and each one is hand-made and comes in a wide range of colours and text textures to suit everyone’s needs.
We have teamed up with Noreve and can now offer you a 20% discount in your next purchase throughout their store and there is plenty to choose from. All you need to do is enter the code TECHBUZZ20 at the checkout to get your special discount. This is on offer from January 6th right through till the 20th of January.
Currently we are checking the Leather case for the Google Pixel 3XL which you can find HERE or you can just browse through their store HERE and the beautiful hand made cases on offer.
Targus – a global leader in mobile accessories – has carried out research revealing that workers in the UK have the worst fitness habits in Europe. Results showed that over half of the nation admitted they struggle to fit in exercise around their working lives and an alarming 10% admitted to doing no exercise at all – the highest percentage compared to any other country.
The survey – conducted by OnePoll and carried out in seven countries across Europe – uncovered the key factors that are restricting people from living more active lifestyles, with a poor work/life balance and stress cited as the main reason by consumers.
Given a large part of the Dutch workforce pursues a healthy work/life balance with an average four-day working week, it comes as no surprise that respondents from The Netherlands topped the charts as the most active European country, with 45% of people exercising four times a week or more. Similarly, the Dutch also appeared to have a more positive work/life balance, with 70% claiming they do not struggle to find time to exercise.
Raphael De Perlinghi, EMEA Director at Targus, said: “People are nowadays far more aware of both the physical and mental health benefits an active lifestyle brings. However, these survey findings show there are still many people across a number of countries that are struggling to engage in regular exercise, due to both a lack of time and stress. With Targus’ Work and Play range of backpacks specifically designed for professionals looking to include sport into their daily routines, we wanted to offer the ideal accessory that essentially combines work and life.”
No gender gap in the gym
When it comes to the frequency of exercise among the sexes, men and women are just as health conscious across the continent with two thirds of men (67%) and women (64%) carrying out some form of activity at least twice a week.
There was, on the other hand, a contrast when it came to accessorising for the gym, with men (74%) much more likely to exercise if they can fit their work and gym stuff into just one bag, compared to women (59%).
De Perlinghi added: “The research revealed that men are far more swayed by convenience when it comes to exercise, especially when it comes to gym gear. We factor these requests into the design and creation of our products in order to deliver what is sought after in the market – our Work and Play collection carries not just your tech, but your gym stuff too, so you no longer have an excuse for not pursuing that before or after work exercise!”
Lenbrook International, maker of high-resolution audio hardware and software solutions, is pleased to announce that a first set of Amazon Alexa Skills for its BluOS Hi-Res Distributed Audio platform, will be available January 15, 2019. Users of BluOS Enabled products from Bluesound, NAD Electronics, and DALI Speakers, will benefit from hands-free control of their music from any Amazon Echo device.
Amazon’s Alexa represents the first platform-wide voice control integration for BluOS in a broader voice control strategy that seeks to offer users a choice in which voice assistant they use. This strategy includes the creation of BluVoice, the voice-control interface that acts as the intermediary between BluOS and a compatible voice assistant. For example, BluOS users can ask their Echo device to deliver music playback commands to their BluOS Enabled device via BluVoice with phrases like, “Alexa, ask BluVoice to play preset 1 in the study,” or “Alexa, ask BluVoice to play new songs on Tidal”.
The strategy also opens up the possibilities of what can be controlled with voice assistants. With the first set of Alexa Skills to be published on January 15, 2019, BluOS users will be able to access popular or user-defined playlists from top music services, favourite radio stations, or adjust volume levels or group players together to sync music throughout the home. Some of these skills, like grouping and ungrouping players, as well as accessing playlists from a local library and not just from a streaming service, are examples of the rich voice control experience that BluOS’s implementation offers over others.
With the addition of voice control, BluOS users now have an even wider array of control options for high-resolution music management and multi-room playback, including from the BluOS Controller app for phones, tablets, and computers, IR remotes, hardware chassis controls, and home control integrations like Crestron, Control 4, and RTI.
Comments Andrew Haines, BluOS Product Manager at Lenbrook International, “Voice control has been on the BluOS roadmap for some time, but we wanted to ensure that we delivered the most flexible approach for all of our customers. Externally integrating an Alexa Skill for BluOS is the first of many collaborations with the major voice platforms, ultimately giving BluOS users unrivalled choice in which voice system they use to control their music.”
The BluOS Alexa Skills deliver a raft of commands through any network-connected Echo device, including play/pause, next/back, shuffle on/off and managing the play queue for most user libraries and music services. Users can use voice commands to switch between inputs on any of their BluOS players, set default music services, preset radio stations or play from their network-connected personal music library. Using the power of the Alexa AI (and depending on the music service being listened to) users can ask what is playing or what track is up next, what album the track is from or the name of the artist. The list of commands will expand as various music services add more voice control functionality.
For more information about voice control in BluOS and enabling Alexa Skills on a BluOS device, visit BluOS.net/BluVoice.
Leading digital agency, AGENT Digital, has created Ireland’s most comprehensive website speed report, surveying the page loading times of more than 1,000 individual Irish websites throughout a wide range of a Ireland’s business sectors.
Ireland’s Website Speed Report—which details Ireland’s fastest & slowest websites by business sector—highlights that the average website loading time in the Irish eCommerce (general) sector was the slowest of all sectors surveyed, with websites taking on average 10.35 seconds to load fully on a mobile device.
AGENT Digital managing director Kevin Meaney declared the research a wake-up call not just for the Irish eCommerce (general) sector but for all Irish businesses online.
“The average load time for Irish websites is more than three times the recommended industry standard of less than 3 seconds. Research shows us 53% of people will leave a mobile page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load (Google),” Mr Meaney said.
He added: “More than 64% of Irish people are searching and in excess of 16% are purchasing goods and services online through mobile devices every week (Statista). But our data shows that Irish business websites are not fast enough to adequately serve this traffic.”
The AGENT Digital report reveals that the slow page loading time of Ireland’s eCommerce (general) sector is part of a national trend, with the speed across all sectors averaging 7.76 seconds on mobile devices.
Mr Meaney explained that the focus on website speed has been intensifying over the past decade, and urged businesses to act now to align their page loading times to the industry standard of less than 3 seconds. He stated: “Google has for years aimed to load its pages in under a half-second, and regards 2 seconds as the e-commerce threshold. As long ago as 2012, Google was describing loading times of 5 seconds as an eternity in a world where fractions of seconds count (Google). And other research has concluded a delay of just one second can result in 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7% loss of conversions (Aberdeen Group).”
To bring the issue up to date and into focus for Ireland in 2018, AGENT Digital’s research team created Ireland’s Website Speed Report using Google’s web performance and speed test tools to periodically test the speed of 1,081 individual Irish websites across 29 business sectors over a 12-month period.
Ireland’s Website Speed Report Ireland’s Fastest & Slowest Websites – By Business Sector
The research finds that websites in the Irish Professional Services (Consultancy) sector have the fastest average page-loading time on mobile devices (4.95 seconds), followed by websites in the Energy sector (6.08 seconds), and Financial Services (Insurance), where sites have an average page loading time of 6.45 seconds.
As noted, the research finds Retail eCommerce (General) sites with the slowest average loading time on mobile devices of all sectors, at 10.35 seconds, behind the 9.22 seconds for sites in the Non-Profit sector, and AgriBusiness websites, which have an average loading time on mobile devices of 9.19 seconds.
Just under half (14) of the 29 sectors surveyed have average loading times faster than the national average of 7.76 seconds. Eight of the sectors are in the immediate hinterland of the national average, including Automotive (7.02); Retail-Fashion (7.25); Technology-Sector Total (7.53); Resources (7.58); Food (7.67); Communications (7.73); Media & Marketing (7.85); and Construction 7.88). All sectors have average mobile loading times in excess of the recommended 2-3 seconds threshold.
NEED FOR SPEED: Managing Director AGENT Digital, Kevin Meaney, launched “Ireland’s Website Speed Report” at international race circuit Mondello Park, Co Kildare, with a call for Irish businesses to get their websites on the starting grid for 2019. “The average load time for Irish websites is more than three times the recommended industry standard of less than 3 seconds.” Image Credit: AGENT Digital
In 2018, swift mobile loading times have become critical for two reasons. The first relates to user experience (UX) as it is right now, and how UX and sales are affected by the loading delays. There is a correlation between delays and bounce rate (the percentage of users who leave a website after viewing only one page). Bounce rate increases as page-load times increase, so longer waits are more likely to result in mobile users leaving for other websites (Akamai). In addition, it’s tougher to get mobile users to convert, because their expectations for speed and reliability are higher. While it’s impressive that more than half of overall web traffic is coming from mobile (Google), this is offset by the reality that more than 53% of mobile visitors to a site will abandon a page that takes longer than three seconds to load (Google).
“Based on the industry standard of a 3-second load time, even the quickest sector in Ireland is losing over half of their mobile site visitors. With 3.59-million smartphone users in Ireland this year, and a forecast increase to 4.06-million by 2022 (Statista), this highlights the scale of the issue.” Mr Meaney stated.
He added that the recent rollout of Google’s ‘Speed Update’ had made the issue even more urgent for Irish business website owners. “With the Google ‘Speed Update’ that was rolled out in July this year, page speed is now a ranking factor for mobile searches. Websites that are slow to load will rank lower in Google search results. It is now essentials for Irish businesses to address the problem to ensure their websites are loading as quickly as possible.” (Google)
Ireland’s Website Speed Report found no sector with average loading times of less than the recommended 2-3 seconds. This research is a wake-up call to businesses to face the challenges presented by slow loading times, and their impact on page views and customer satisfaction.
With Retail – eCommerce (General) identified as the sector with the slowest average page loading speed, a glance at the market gives an indication of the potential scale of losses.
In 2018, revenue in the Irish eCommerce market is worth around €3,502m and is expected to grow to €4873m by 2022 (Statista). However, Google and other sources warn that a delay of just 1-second could result in a 7% loss in conversions. Seen in that light, the 7-second delay averaged by Irish websites in the Retail – eCommerce (General) sector becomes a stark signifier of potential losses.
Ireland’s Website Speed Report is part of the AGENT Digital goal of helping 100,000 businesses to grow online by 2030. The report was created to make Irish brands more aware of the importance of website speed, and to help improve their online businesses.
Mr Meaney stated: “It was important for us to create this speed report to highlight the issue to Irish Businesses. Many Irish brands are simply not aware that their websites are too slow. Once the issue is highlighted it can be quickly addressed through effective website speed optimisation techniques.”
As a leading digital agency AGENT Digital specialises in website speed optimisation for leading brands both nationally and internationally. To help Irish businesses, AGENT Digital has 10 pragmatic tips that companies can take to improve their website speed immediately.
Lifesize, a global innovator of video collaboration and meeting productivity solutions, today announced the release of its new global cloud service architecture and Icon 700 conference room solution. The complete video conferencing solution represents the flagship technology in a new line of next-generation Lifesize offerings. Designed with industry-first 4K video conferencing capabilities, the solution offers full-motion 4K content sharing and an unparalleled quality experience.
“Today’s businesses and their employees rely on video conferencing for their mission-critical communications,” said Craig Malloy, CEO of Lifesize. “Our goal with our next generation of Lifesize solutions was to challenge the status quo of ‘good enough’ quality and create a better-than-in-person meeting experience that eliminates the stress, time and money waste associated with commuting to and from meetings. Whether connecting face to face with your customers, making an introductory call with a new client or strengthening your internal global communication culture, these new offerings will help people present their absolute best selves in every conversation.”
The 4K global cloud service architecture and the Icon 700 conference room solutionwith full-motion 4K content sharing, and premium audio clarity, delivers the absolute best video conferencing experience on the market. Priced at $7,499, the Icon 700 offers a future-proof 4K solution for the price of competing 720p solutions. Highlights of the new solution include:
First-ever 4K video conferencing with full-motion content sharing in 4K
Native integration with easy-to-use cloud service designed for live 4K video
Ultra-wideband Opus audio for exceptional audio clarity optimised for human speech
The industry’s highest quality for multiparty calls and recordings
“The company that introduced the first HD-capable video conferencing system is now taking things to the next level,” says Ira M. Weinstein, managing partner at analyst firm Recon Research. “At a time when many solutions are sacrificing quality of experience in favour of cost, Lifesize is taking the opposite tact by providing full-motion 4K video and content sharing. The combination of these latest offerings and the company’s field-proven cloud service will pave the way for new use cases where the combination of ease of use and high resolution are a must.”
For more information about the new line of Lifesize 4K solutions, visit www.lifesize.com.
The Irish Research Council has announced today that two young Irish scientists have won a national competition to train at the European Space Agency (ESA). The coveted positions are part of an ongoing partnership between the Irish Research Council and ESA, which hosts Irish trainees at its centres across Europe.
As part of the programme, the researchers will work on cutting-edge projects and gain practical experience in high-tech space activities such as: space science; Earth observation; telecommunications; navigation; mission control and operations; and human spaceflight.
Following a national competitive process, the two top-ranking candidates who were selected to join the traineeship programme at the European Space Astronomy Centre in Madrid, Spain are:
Amy Joyce from Clonmel, County Tipperary: Amy has a master’s degree in experimental physics from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She will work on developing tools for mission cross calibration and will also learn about the scientific uses of x-ray satellites and the challenges and procedures of operating a space mission.
Cillian Murphy, from Dundrum, County Dublin: Cillian has a master’s degree in space and science technology from University College Dublin. He will work on the Gaia Mission to assist in completing an astrometric survey of stars, using spacecraft observation. He is also a future Analog Astronaut candidate with the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF).
Commenting on the announcement today, Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan TD, said: “This is a unique opportunity for Amy and Cillian to train with the best and to develop their skills at the European Space Agency.
“Supporting a pipeline of talent plays an integral role in taking Ireland forward in its contribution to space research, development and innovation and ensures that we are continuing to contribute and collaborate on an international level.”
Peter Brown, Director of the Irish Research Council also welcomed the announcement, saying: “The Irish Research Council and the European Space Agency first partnered in 2016 with the aim to give Irish-based science and engineering graduates a chance to make their mark in the field of space exploration.
“This traineeship offers the life-changing opportunity to pursue a career in Europe’s gateway to space. The Council is committed to supporting the development of Europe’s space capability and ensuring that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. We are delighted to support both Amy and Cillian on this project and look forward to continuing to collaborate with ESA on this initiative.”
The Jabra Elite Active 65t in Copper Red are probably the best looking in-ears about and stand out from the industry norm when it comes to colour, I own several pairs of in-ears like this and these easily stand out on the collection and on the street as people have been asking me anytime I wear them outside and this is something I like.. They stand out..
The presentation as always with Jabra is good and again something I am always liking and you can check out the unboxing video below for a detailed look at what we are dealing with here.
At first these where a little uncomfortable like the previous pair and this is after trying several buds but after a few minutes they settle and after this its all good more or less. The pairing process is same as before and we have audio giving us status however it took me two attempts to pair both sides this time around but after this there was no drop out on switching to and from these earbuds as at the minute I am testing several so that is a good thing as some report only one side being picked up but there could be several reasons for that.
On the buds we have simple controls and again on first use they might hurt at first but like I said after a while they settle and all is good. The left side controls your volume and you can also skip tracks by holding down there is two little raised humps either side of the logo and the right side is for call management and playback.
One thing I like with these is if you remove one the music stops and is quite handy and on putting the earbud back in the music continues again,handy little feature this. If you are one to take commutes you get a charging case which is also in Copper Red and again be prepared eyes looking in wonder, the charging case gives you two full charges which would be around 4-4.5 hours of non stop music. The case itself flips open on top like previous versions and its charged via micro USB and sports and LED on the rear and one in top for status.
For those who run or train they do not fall out of ears as they are tight-fitting and are good at noise isolation but there is the Jabra Sound plus app which is really great and during my test period I got an update. I have touched on this app before but it really is a must if you have these earbuds or others from Jabra that is compatible, You can also use your voice assist but something I don’t bother with to be honest..
If you want to enjoy music it is better via this app with an array of features including Hear Through and caller ID and so on. The call experience was fine here but it’s the music that people want to know about. I feel most audiophiles would be happy overall with the performance if not too picky and for me all music attributes were reproduced well and great clarity too and this is down to the app and the app is FREE. If you like bass it is there and probably a favourite aspect many people are interested in.
These earbuds are IP56 rated so they can take a rain shower and sweat which is important for some and for a place like Ireland where the weather is never good they should last some time but it is advisable to take care of them regardless which is something I do with all my headphones and earphones just don’t take things for granted.
Overall I think these are a worthy purchase especially in this colourway if you want something different and that stands out. Some might say at the higher end of the scale when it comes to pricing but what you get is a good solid product that is ideal for those on the go and who workout or jog, Jabra are a long time in this business and deliver on all aspects.
This platform allows for online booking of these gathered activities in less than 3 minutes on an easy to use website, instead of spending hours on Google looking for what to do, then having to pay a deposit through the phone – which is not secure process and most people feel uncomfortable giving their card details to strangers through the phone. Their story is interesting, unusual and somewhat funny.
“We are very active but it was too time-consuming to find fun things to do with friends in our spare times.” I built something that I really needed, I just felt like activities and fun things to do should be easy to find and booked with no hassle” said Steven.
With a small team of 6,ActaFun’s vision is to bring people together and do fun, challenging and memorable activities. Doing activities with colleagues, friends and families always bring something new to chat about, its amazing! Our current users are young professional, groups of friends, tourists and families usually between 22 – 40 who are booking activities on ActaFun.
Users are Booking activities such as Paintballing, Go Karting, FootGolf, Falconry, Rock Climbing, Ghost bus, comedy bus and many more in less than 3 minutes. “ You can book an activity for 2 people or for 30 people, as long as the time is available on the site.” said Steven. ActaFun Partners up with activity providers and makes sure all activities on the website are been booked at the best prices, with no booking fees for users. They are bringing on more activities on a daily basis.
While building the platform they created a Facebook group just to add value to people, they organise monthly group activities allowing random people to join. This group was very popular during the summer, “We plan to do more indoor activities such as Ice Skating, Rock climbing and Escape VR while it’s cold outside” said Steven
The website has the benefit of growing activity providers sales during off-peak times, it increases providers sales and reduces staff time been wasted on unnecessary tasks.
ActaFun currently has 1 angel investor and are open to more investments offers while planning to Launch their app by the first week of December and scale to Barcelona & Madrid in March 2019. They plan to scale to Barcelona and Madrid because they are large cities, Full of local activities with a massive demand for fun activities. “ but our headquarters will always be in Ireland. I am a proud Irish, “Well, Afro – Irish” says Steven
