Category: Tech

Garden ‘Field Trip’ with Google Pixel 4 #Gardening #Pixel4 #GoogleLens #Wildlife

As summer arrives thoughts are turning towards our gardens and balconies and I wanted to share some ways people who might be new to gardening can use Google Lens to discover more of their garden and help children discover a love for their garden.

Whether it’s using Google Lens to identify a flower or insect, brushing up on gardening skills with Google Assistant, following outdoor DIY tutorials or even mastering the art of photography, there’s hours of fun (for adults and children) to be had on your doorstep. To get started, please find a selection of tips and tricks below using features on Google Pixel 4.

 

Fred Brewin, senior product manager for Google Lens, says: ‘There’s magic in the change of a season that makes people want to get closer to nature. We want to help people learn more about the environment around them, and we have a nifty AI-led tool to help. Google Lens can easily identify plants and flowers using your camera on Pixel 4 and other Android/iOSdevices with a simple tap.’

Garden ‘Field Trip’ Pixel 4 Tip Sheet 

Name that flower!  Google Lens: Now your little ones can become the ultimate flower expert by using Google Lens to identify what’s growing in the garden. Challenge them to find as many different species of flowers as they can and once done, move onto plants and insects. You can also encourage them to ask Google Assistant for handy facts as they go along.

  1. Open the camera on your phone, hit more and then press Google Lens

  2. Point your camera at the flower to identify the plant

  3. Swipe up to learn about the discovery

You can also use the folder of stock images to create your own eye spy checklist, or if feeling creative make your own.

Channel their inner artist 

Portrait Mode: Help creativity blossom by showing kids how to take beautiful snaps of the garden. Colourful flowers are perfect to photograph and now Portrait Mode on Pixel 4 makes it easier than ever to take a crystal clear shot. Photograph insects, trees or even clouds and different textures such as bark and grass. What’s more, why not try drawing or painting the photographs when returning inside.

 

  1. Open up your camera and tap the menu icon

  2. Select Portrait mode and tap on the screen to focus on the flower

  3. Older kids can play around with the brightness and shadows slider to make the subject pop

Grow your own

YouTube Tutorials: If spending more time in the garden has you feeling green fingered, create a vegetable or flower patch with help from YouTube tutorials.

 

  1. Simply download the YouTube app

  2. Search for a video such as: ‘How to create a vegetable patch’ or ‘How to grow tomatoes’

  3. Watch step-by-step tutorials on your phone right from the soil bed

  4. What’s more, motion sense on Pixel 4 means you simply have to swipe to pause a video, so there’s no need to take off your gardening gloves

Make something extra special 

YouTube Tutorials: Once you’ve mastered the flower beds, why not start a mini building project with the whole family. Whether creating a bird feeder, bug hotel, worm tower or even a magical fairy garden, there’s a host of YouTube tutorials to follow. Please find example videos at the end of the tips.

Learn more about the world around you 

Google Assistant: Kids can learn more about the world around them with help from Google Assistant. Simply say “Ok Google” followed by your question.  For example, say:

 

  1. Ok Google, tell me about bumble bees?

  2. Hey Google, what is a ladybird?

  3. Ok Google, what are the best flowers to plant this season?

  4. Hey Google, what are the best plants for growing at home?

Bring the magic of the garden inside

Google Assistant: There’s also fun to be had if it’s rainy outside. Google Assistant can recreate the sounds of animals, birds and insects such as the sound of bumble bees or even a woodpecker. So, when telling a story about the garden or teaching your children about creepy crawlies and birds Google Assistant can help bring the lesson to life. For example, try saying:

 

  1. Ok Google, what sound does a pigeon make?

  2. Ok Google, make the sound of a robin?

  3. Hey Google, what sound does a dove make?

  4. Ok Google, what sound does a bee make?

  5. Ok Google, what sound does a fox make?

  6. Hey Google, what sound does a butterfly make?

Garden DIY Project YouTube Tutorials:

Simply say ‘OK Google, play’…followed by the below titles to bring up the video.

 

How To Make A Bird Feeder 

How to make your own fairy garden

Bug Hotel: How to Make a Home for Beneficial Insects

 

How To Make A DIY Worm Tower

How to make a bee hotel

Fun Kids’ Crafts: Painted Pots

New Data Shows Facebook & Google Ads Effectiveness Is Fueled By TV Advertising.

A consumer analytics company – passively measured consumer behaviour 24/7 including all their TV viewing (content and ads), online behaviour as well as offline store visits. The analysis on the impact of TV advertising on online platforms was conducted in sectors such as supermarkets, automotive, travel, insurance, financial services, lottery, gambling and online clothing, which represent a cross section of products associated with both impulse and considered purchases.

Overall, the data shows that consumers who clicked on an online ad or visited the advertisers’ website, watched on average 39% more TV ads by that advertiser in the previous week than users who did not click on an ad or visit the website. The study shows that TV’s effect on Facebook clicks was the highest and users who clicked on a FB ad saw 48% more TV adverts of that brand in the previous week than users who did not click on an ad. Users who visited the brands’ websites watched an average of 28% more adverts and users who clicked on a Google ad saw an average of 42% more TV ads. When embarking into the world of paid ads, it is important to source a reputable PPC management company to get the best results for your investment.

The best performing sectors were gambling and online clothes, where those who interacted online with brands – were exposed to 68% and 47% respectively – more TV adverts than those who hadn’t. Within these sectors, for brands such as Coral those who clicked on their adverts or visited their website were exposed to a massive 117% more Coral TV adverts than other gamblers. For Jacamo, in the online clothing sector, this figure was 85%.

The Facebook and Google duopoly now account for 60% of all digital advertising expenditure globally or USD $144.6 billion, but their success is clearly being propped by TV advertising who continues to be the most effective medium at brand building and driving online clicks

ViewersLogic’s single-source data shows unequivocally that TV drives online traffic but in recent years online advertising became the tool of choice for marketers because it offered better measurability than TV advertising. ViewersLogic technology can, for the first time, see the whole consumer journey both online and offline and measure accurately how our exposure to TV adverts results in consumers wanting to find out more about a product or a brand by following it through online up to the product purchase. Crucially, its technology can now also measure for the first time, how much brands really spend on generating clicks through online ads by factoring in the impact TV advertising had on generating each online interaction.

For Henry Daglish, the founder of boutique marketing agency Bountiful Cow this new data provides compelling evidence that marketing campaigns need to be more aligned across TV and online to drive sales effectively through advertising. Mr. Daglish said: ‘’Over recent years TV advertising expenditure has shrunk as brands have increasingly shifted their budgets online attracted by better measurability and segmentation but ViewersLogic’s data has now shown us that, if used correctly, TV drives the greatest improvement in online performance. This opened for us a new area of analytics and performance improvement that we are now sharing with our clients’’

Other studies have shown a clear correlation between a decrease in sales and a reduction in TV ad spend, not only TV advertising has an immediate impact on sales but it is also proved that it manages to significantly enhance the impact of digital advertising. Despite compelling evidence, recently released data by Media Audits shows that TV now account for less than a quarter of ad expenditure in the UK compared to online with over 50%, and this is predicted decline even further this year. With the cost of an advertising slot on TV becoming considerable cheaper, its proven effectiveness at brand building and driving online traffic is it time for smart brands to get back on TV?

DATA FINDINGS BY INDUSTRY SECTOR
Gambling •

Gambling was the best performing sector and those who interacted with the brands online saw an average of 68% more ads by the same brand in the previous week than other gamblers who did not visit the site (in this case we compared this just with other gamblers to neutralise other influence). • Coral performed particularly well – users who interacted with the brand online saw an average of 117% more of the brand’s TV ads in the previous week than other gamblers who did not interact with Coral. On the other hand, PaddyPower users saw only 30% more Paddy Power TV ads in the week before interacting with the brand, compared to other gamblers.

Online clothing  •

Of the sectors measured online clothing was the second best performing and those who went on to click on a Google or Facebook advert or onto a brand’s website had seen 47% more TV adverts by that brand in the week before the interaction than those who had not (in this case we compared this just with other online clothing shoppers to neutralise other demographic influence (e.g. if online clothes shoppers see more ads than the general population). • Jacamo was particularly successful compared to their competitors and people who interacted with the brand online either through an advert or by visiting their website saw on average 85% more Jacomo ads than other online shoppers.

Financial Services •

Out of all the sectors measured the financial services showed the lowest effect of TV on online behaviour and on average those who interacted with this sector online, saw 19% more ads in the previous week. • The data shows that Totally Money was by far the most successful financial brand in converting its TV audience into clicks and users who interacted with the brand online, saw 69% more Totally Money TV ads in the previous week. • Companies such as Experian, Money Supermarket and uSwitch had a poor cross-media performance and users who interacted with these brands saw only 2% more of their TV ads in the week before the interaction.

Lottery •

Online clickers on Facebook/Google ads and visitors to the lottery companies’ websites had watched 35% more TV adverts than those who did not, in the week before the interaction took place. • The Postcode Lottery adverts performed better than its competitors and people who clicked through online on Facebook/Google ads and visited the company’s website, saw 55% more Postcode Lottery TV ads.

Supermarkets •

Consumers that clicked through supermarket ads online saw 35% more TV ads in the previous week than users who did not click. • In this sector, Iceland had by far the most successful cross-media campaign, and overall, users who visited the brand’s site or app were exposed to 39% more Iceland TV ads in the previous week. Users who clicked on an Iceland ad on Google or Facebook were exposed to 64% more TV ads in the week before clicking. • Waitrose was the worst performer in this sector and users who clicked on its online ads were exposed to only 12% more Waitrose TV adverts in the week before clicking.

Automotive •

People who interacted with car brands online saw 24% more TV ads than users who did not interact with these brands. • People who clicked on a Ford or Vauxhall ad online saw 18% more TV ads in the week before clicking than other users. Nissan’s cross-media campaign was more effective and people who interacted with the brand online saw 45% more Nissan TV ads in the previous week. • For Vauxhall, users who clicked on a Google ad saw only 3% more TV adverts in the previous week, suggesting that their TV campaign wasn’t particularly successful in driving people to search for the brand.

Travel •

Because the travel industry has been severely affected over the last three months, ViewersLogic did the analysis until the end of February and saw that users who interacted with travel brands were exposed, on average, to 25% more TV ads in the week before, than those who did not interact with these brands. • Jet2 had the best performing TV campaign in this sector and those who interacted with the brand online had watched 45% more Jet2 TV ads. Their TV campaign has a specifically good effect on their FB advertising where people who clicked on a FB ad, were exposed to 77% more Jet2 TV adverts than other users. • Perhaps surprisingly, one the biggest travel brands internationally Booking.com, had a poor cross-media campaign and users who interacted with the brand saw only 7% more TV ads of this brand, compared to other users.

Insurance •

In this sector, those who interacted with insurance brands online had watched 26% more TV ads. • LV Insurance was especially successful in converting their TV audience into online activity and users who interacted with the brand online, saw 49% more LV TV ads in the week before. They did particularly well on Facebook where users who clicked on an LV FB ad were exposed to 115% more TV ads.

Most successful brands by online platform • Brands own website o Bet365 – +185%

• Facebook ads o Jacamo – 131%

• Google ads o Ladbrokes – +244%

• Overall Most successful cross-media campaign o Coral – +117%

Virgin brings back Unlimited Mobile for €5 a month for 5 months for EVERYONE. #VirginMobile

Virgin Mobile is bringing back one of their most popular offers. Both existing Virgin Media customers and new customers can sign up now to get Unlimited Mobile for €5 for 5 months. The offer launches today, June 4th, and runs until July 29th so act quick to snap up this great deal. This new offer includes Unlimited 4G data, calls and texts and our customer-friendly 30 day contracts.

Anne O’Flynn, Head of Commercial Product at Virgin Media said: “Our ‘545’ offer was one of our most popular ever so we decided to bring it back and give everyone the chance to sign up who hasn’t already and get Unlimited Mobile for just €5 for 5 months.

It’s important to us to give customers the best value possible and, with the return of our ‘545’ deal, that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with a saving of €100 over the course of 12 months if you sign up now.”  

This new ‘€5 for 5 Months’ Unlimited Mobile offer launches June 4th 2020 and runs until July 29th 2020. The price of the plan will return to just €25 a month thereafter.

The temporary change to Virgin Mobile’s plans to make them unlimited will run until June 30th, 2020. All domestic data use, Irish landline, mobile and non-geographic calls, texts to Irish mobiles are unlimited with no Fair Usage Policy (FUP) for all Virgin Mobile customers until June 30th 2020. Any out of bundle international, premium and non-EU Roaming calls and texts will be charged at the standard rates for your plan. Virgin Mobile’s EU Roaming Data Fair Usage Policy is not affected by this change.

Father’s Day gifts for any tech-savvy dad. #FathersDay #Tech

With Father’s Day coming up this month make sure dad feels appreciated with one of these great gadget gifts. From a retro cassette player and a picture frame/Qi wireless charger in one to a sleek and stylish connected electric bicycle, there’s something for everyone and every budget.

Groov-e Retro Cassette Player

Price: £19.99

Available from: www.groov-e.co.uk

Does your dad have a collection of old cassette tapes? If so then this could be the perfect nostalgic Father’s Day gift for him. Dad can enjoy classic music tapes or listen to the radio with this personal Cassette Player from Groov-e. If he wants to share his music with others, he can even play his favourite tunes loud through the external speaker.

Twelve South AirSnap Pro

£35.99

Available from Amazon UK

If dad is lucky enough to own a pair of Apple’s AirPods Pro earbuds then the Twelve South AirSnap Pro is the perfect gift. The AirSnap Pro is a premium leather case accessory designed to protect the earbuds wireless charging case from scratches and scuffs. Offering more than just protection it also allows users to charge the earbuds and case wirelessly using their favourite Qi-certified wireless charger or via a Lightning cable. Available in three colours including cognac, black or slate blue.

Groov-e Athena

Price: £34.99

Available from: www.groov-e.co.uk

The sleek and stylish Athena isn’t just an alarm clock, it’s also a wireless charging device and nightlight, meaning dads can have all the essential night time functionality they need in just one handy product. No need to find a charger at the end of the day, simply place a mobile device on top of the Athena for easy, wireless charging whilst asleep.

What’s more, the Athena features a gentle night light with three settings that enable users to choose what level of brightness they require at bedtime, through the night and first thing in the morning. A handy alarm clock and calendar display means that even if users wake up sleepy they can be sure to know what day it is.

Twelve South PowerPic

Price: £49.99

Available from: Amazon UK

The perfect Father’s Day gift the PowerPic is a picture frame and Qi wireless charger in one. Modern and stylish and crafted from the finest New Zealand pine, the frame blends seamlessly into any home or office décor, making it perfect to display favorite photos on a desk, bedside table or shelf. Getting rid of ugly cables or docks, the PowerPic doubles up as a Qi wireless charger – just set any Qi-compatible phone inside the frame to start charging. PowerPic holds any 5” x 7” photo and is available in black or white. It enables up to 10 watts for wireless fast charging and will charge through most popular phone cases up to 3mm thick.

Twelve South AirFly Pro

£49.99

Available from Apple.com and Amazon UK

The perfect gift for any tech loving dad, the AirFly Pro is a Bluetooth adaptor that allows AirPods or other wireless headphones to be used in situations where only wired headphone jacks are available i.e. at the gym or on the plane.  Having incompatible wireless headphones and earbuds is now a thing of the past with AirFly Pro allowing up-to two users to easily connect their wireless headphones via Bluetooth, to the media system while flying or to a running machine. Also handy for anyone with an older car – simply plug in to the car’s AUX IN to make the stereo system Bluetooth compatible.

Groov-e Zen

Price: £54.99

Available from: www.groov-e.co.uk

The Groov-e Zen Active Noise Cancelling headphones are the ideal gift for any music loving dad. Combining 40mm Neodymium drivers for superior sound quality with crystal clear audio supported by Active Noise Cancelling, that reduces unwanted ambient sound, they provide an immersive listening experience.  With over 10-hours of wireless playback the Zen headphones are ideal for listening to favourite music when at home, travelling, commuting or in the office when connected to a Bluetooth device.

Activ5

Price: £129.99

Available from: Amazon.co.uk

Dubbed ‘a tiny gym in your pocket’ Activ5 is a portable fitness device ideal for any dad whether he’s a working professional who sits all day, likes to travel, over 60 or simply just finds it challenging to fit in daily activity. Activ5 by Activbody allows anyone with a smartphone or tablet to complete effective five-minute workouts from virtually anywhere.

Ideal for any fitness level, the sleek and portable handheld device guides users through short burst isometric workouts, providing full-body toning from both sitting and standing positions, all while tracking results on the companion Activ5 coaching App. It features more than 100 unique workouts that are calibrated to your individual strength level and uses your own body as resistance so you don’t need any other equipment. Fast, fun, and measuring data such as strength, strength increases, precision and other personal metrics, Activ5 helps motivate you to reach your fitness goals.

With a durable design that registers more than 200 lbs of force, Activ5 can help you increase your strength by as much as 5 percent per week. You can work your whole body or focus on particular areas and muscle groups such as your shoulders, biceps or abs. With Activ5 you can even exercise while playing one of the integrated games in the app that use the device as a controller. Playing games with the Activ5 is fun and challenging whilst still providing a workout.

Small enough to pop in your bag, Activ5 really does allow you to exercise anywhere – there are even specific workouts available on the app including Yoga and Pilates, at work, travelling on a train, plane and much more.

Senstroke

Price: £145

Available from: www.senstroke.com

A great option for any music loving day, the Senstroke connected sensors and app allow you to play drums anywhere, anytime. Perfect for anyone from wannabe drummers to pros, adults and children, simply attach the Bluetooth sensors to the included drumsticks and begin playing on any surface – a table, cushion or even on your knees. Senstroke is not only great for experienced drummers it’s also the perfect solution for anyone wanting to give drumming a go but is perhaps worried about space and noise complaints from the neighbours.

Pocketalk S

Price: £259

Available from: Amazon UK

The perfect gift for a travel mad dad, Pocketalk S is a multi-sensory, two-way translation device designed for easy naturally flowing conversations, even in noisy environments. With a sleek design encompassing a large touchscreen, two high-quality speakers, noise-cancelling microphones and a text-to-translate camera, Pocketalk S is able to create connections across 74 different languages in over 130 countries and regions. By utilising the best translation engines from around the world, Pocketalk S provides a consistently accurate translation for deciphering public transportation signs, menus, and creates the best experience by picking up localised dialects and slang.

Cowboy

Price: £1,790

Available from https://cowboy.com

A luxury present for dad, the sleek and stylish Cowboy is the next generation of connected electric bicycle. With live dashboard, navigation, GPS tracking, removable battery and ride stats, the accompanying app makes your ride more than just a ride. Its impressive features include:

-No gears, it uses intuitive assistance that adapts automatically to the power and speed you need

-Up to 70km battery range with a removable battery so you can recharge anywhere

-Integrated lights/intensifying brake lights to make sure you’re seen

-Hydraulic brakes meaning you can go from 25km/hr to stop in a split second

-Lightweight at only 16kg – lightest electric bike with removable battery on the market

-Built in GPS tracking

-Controlled by the Cowboy app, a live dashboard keeps the rider informed of the status of the ride in terms of speed, duration, distance and battery level.

Carlow based company @FeverDefence secures €1m investment for fever detection device #IrishBiz #FeverDefence

Carlow-based company, Xenon, has announced today that it has secured €1m in funding for their handsfree, infrared temperature testing device – Fever Defence.

The investment was made by New York based venture capitalists Antonio Ruiz-Gimenez and Kerry Propper. Fever Defence is a standalone device that uses a thermal imaging camera and facial detection camera to test people’s temperature, upon entry to a building or site.

The non-contact device measures skin temperature in less than one second, and is accurate up to ±0.3°C. Upon reading the temperature, it then alerts the individual of the result using a red and green light stop-go system and an audible notification if a potential fever temperature is detected.

Commenting on the investment, Paddy Byrne, Managing Director of Xenon Fever Defence, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which will help us to scale our operations across Europe and the United States.

“Employers are moving quickly to put additional safety measures in place to protect their workplaces and their customers against the risk of COVID-19. Our devices have been installed at companies and organisations across a number of different industries – from construction sites and offices to retail and childcare settings in the Irish, European and US markets.  

“Fever Defence acts as the first layer of defence for businesses, as they navigate their way through operating during the pandemic. This funding will allow us to expand our reach, and help organisations across the globe in reopening for business as soon and as safely as possible.”

Managing Partner of ATW Partners, Antonio Ruiz-Giménez, said that Fever Defence provides a smart solution for businesses worldwide as they begin to reopen: “The COVID-19 crisis has meant that businesses and organisations have had to reimagine the way they work, and the safety measures they have in place. 

“Fever Defence will help create safer environments for people to be in, which is something we fully support. The product has excellent market potential and we are looking forward to working with the team to help them advance and scale in Ireland, Europe, the US and beyond.” 

Website Personalization – What It Is & Why It Is Important

There are hundreds of millions of sites on the internet. Many of them have a beautiful and easy-to-navigate design that their visitors love. But others might not be doing as well. 

There is no doubt that you want to create a beautiful website that is loved by visitors and stands out from the others. That is precisely the reason why you need to learn everything there is to know about website personalization.

What is Website Personalization?

Website personalization is an exciting concept that allows the content on a site to be perfectly tailored to each visitor’s individual needs. Websites, usually, have a standard layout that remains the same, no matter who visits. On the other hand, personalization allows you to improve every visitor’s experience that is perfectly suited to what they want and need. That, in turn, can enhance your brand’s image. But, first you’ll need to invest in custom website design and development to build a solid structure that is capable of further personalization

In the real world, you can deal with your customer in the best way by taking a look at them and understanding them. If they are a regular, then you can greet them by their name and engage in a friendlier manner. This would be offline personalization, and you need to take this concept to your website.

Since it’s not a simple thing to do, you need to hire the services of a company that can provide personalized experiences to your visitors. 

 

Why Is Website Personalization Important?

Helps You Understand Your Audience Better

Website personalization allows you to efficiently sort your consumers into personalized funnels. You can gain valuable insights into the visitors that can be crucial to help you figure out what industries they visit the most and how they interact with online content. You can then divide your audience into various sections of the website. 

This information will help your website target customer according to what they like. Therefore, allowing your team to optimize your website’s performance.

Better Converting Home and Landing Pages

Home and landing pages are two of many areas of your websites that can hugely benefit from personalization. 

If you have an e-commerce website, you would want the site to recommend a specific range of products to a pre-teen and a different catalog to an engineer. By having those personalized home and landing pages, you can make sure your website is appropriately optimized to have the most sales.

Your website can take information from the place a particular visitor just came from, and give them a relevant landing page that suits their needs. Making the whole experience seamless and comfortable.

 

Improves Your Site’s Ranking on Search Engines

Everyone is interested in having the highest website ranking on Google for all of their desired keywords, but it takes plenty of time and a lot of hard work. Fortunately, personalization can bring you one step closer to achieving your target. 

Personalize allows your website to further increase relevance to the specific industry, and thereby having a high ranking on a search engine’s results page. The higher your website is ranking on a results page, the more chances of people to visit and take a look. Therefore, boosting your web traffic, brand awareness, and revenue.  

 

Makes Your Call-To-Action Perform Better

A call-to-action is one of the best methods to convince your customers to move further along in their buying process. But a CTAs value is much more than merely initiating a conversion. With the right methods, you can get someone to start a free trial, take a survey, read an article, or do something else.

Regardless of what kind of call-to-action best suits your website, personalizing it will take it to the next level. That is because personalized CTAs have proven to be twice as more effective than their standard counterparts. 

 

Develops Customer Loyalty

Everyone wants to have a fantastic experience with the service. If you can provide it to them, then they will become more loyal to you than other websites. After all, it’s only human nature to keep coming back to the people who treat you the best. 

That is why website personalization is becoming a very popular trend. You can boost consumer loyalty by welcoming each individual with the help of personalization. Most of the people on the internet will only go to the brands that care about them, which is also why companies pour a lot of money into providing amazing customer service. 

If you also have a loyalty program on your site, then website personalization can do wonders for you.

 

emporia UK & IE announces four new sales channels despite retail lockdown. #emporiamobile #retail

emporia telecom – which launched a range of mobile phones and landlines in the UK and Ireland markets at the start of the year – has established a growing volume of sales through a number of new retail partnerships as consumers have adapted to the high street lockdown.

After initially developing its own e-commerce site in partnership with Eurostar Global, and starting to develop its presence on Amazon.co.uk, emporia has developed quickly to add new key partnerships to build on its early success.

Scotts & Co, through its brands Scotts of Stow and Expert Verdict, now sells 10 emporia devices through home shopping and online.

Hearing Direct has also launched the full emporia range online and are already busy making sure that its many hearing-impaired customers can access and enjoy the technology.

 

In addition, key online retailers including MobilePhonesDirect (owned by AO.com) ranges two devices and offer them SIM-free and with great value pay monthly contracts from only £9.50 and laptopsdirect is now selling the vast majority of emporia’s mobile phone devices.

 Chris Millington, the UK and Ireland MD of emporia said: “We are really pleased with the progress we have made in the short period of time since our launch, despite the widespread impact and uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

 “Our products are particularly well suited to helping older people overcome the feeling of isolation and separation from family and friends by offering easy-to-use communications technology. Working with key partners and retailers that are able to reach this audience has been critical in helping older users stay safe but to keep in regular contact. Our detailed training guides that accompany all smart devices have really provided an incredible tool to help many users to gain confidence and maximize their use through applications like WhatsApp.

 “Sales through retail partners is a key part of our growth strategy and is particularly effective in these times. Plus, we are working with outlets who serve the retiree segment particularly well.  We look forward to accelerating this positive momentum in the coming weeks and months with further new partnerships to be announced and as the economy starts to regain some normality.”

For more information on emporia’s products, please visit: www.emporiatelecom.co.uk  

Poly introduces Room Solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms to deliver smart, simple and consistent collaboration.

Plantronics, Inc.  a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, today unveiled a new series of Poly Room Solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms – Poly G10-T, G40-T and G80-T. These solutions include audio and video tools that deliver superior meeting experiences for users on Microsoft Teams, and gives IT managers the ability to easily scale for meeting rooms of all sizes.

Teams usage continues to skyrocket with more than 75 million daily active users, further deepening the need for consistent cloud collaboration experiences across devices. With the rapidly changing work environments expanding into the home and across differing room setups, users, IT managers and administrators need flexible, hybrid devices. Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms provides customisable room tools that enable seamless virtual collaboration experiences with little to no-touch control. They join the previously announced Poly Studio X family that will also offer native Teams video experiences.

“As more and more users recognise the value of video-based collaboration while working from anywhere, they will need to stay connected and productive with tools that integrate easily with cloud collaboration platforms like Teams,” said Tim Root, vice president and general manager, room collaboration, Poly. “Poly Room Solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms are designed to make meetings feel natural and effortless with the highest quality in audio and video, so all participants feel like a true part of the conversation. Poly partnered with Lenovo’s ThinkSmart team to deliver an enterprise-class compute appliance, built on Intel vPro technology, to provide a secure, reliable platform for our Poly Room Solution for Teams.”

“Lenovo is excited to join forces with Poly to deliver Poly Room Solution for Microsoft Teams, featuring ThinkSmart Edition Tiny,” said Joseph Mingori, general manager, Lenovo Smart Office Business. “This offering allows us to deliver a joint solution designed to meet our shared customers collaboration space needs.”

As many enterprise and SMB customers prepare to deploy their organisation to Teams, Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms offers the latest tools to deliver best-in-class audio and video experiences from automatic group framing to speaker tracking technologies, turning even passive meetings into powerful communication experiences. Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms not only delivers the premium Poly audio and video for Teams, but also provides a clutter-free experience from start to finish with simple installation and maintenance in any size room. The lack of messy cords means that not only is it simple to set-up and use but ensures that the focus remains on collaboration and output, not on tangled wires.

Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms is just the latest in Teams Rooms technology from Poly. Poly has been working alongside Microsoft for over 15 years and now has the most certified headset and speakerphone devices for Teams available, including: Trio C60, Calisto 5300, Calisto 5200, Calisto 3200, Voyager 4200 Office and UC Series, Voyager 5200 Office and UC Series, Voyager 6200 UC, Voyager 8200 UC,  Blackwire 3300 and 5200 Series, and most recently, Blackwire 8225.

“Customers look to Poly and Microsoft to deliver a seamless collaboration experience across collaboration, calling and meetings,” said Ilya Bukshteyn, partner director for Microsoft Teams devices, Microsoft. “Poly brings our joint customers a broad portfolio of devices, all delivering a consistent Microsoft Teams user experience, and enabling those users to collaborate and communicate easily, quickly, and seamlessly wherever they are working.” 

In a live roundtable taking place on May 28th at 2pm ET, Tom Puorro, executive vice president, general manager, products and Ilya Bukshteyn, partner director, Microsoft Teams Devices at Microsoft, will discuss the how to embrace the future of cloud collaboration in the enterprise and beyond.

Poly’s Room Solution for Teams Rooms comes in a variety of different configurations and can comfortably equip small to large rooms, depending on individual need:

  • G10-T, the base kit to get organisations started includes:
    • Poly GC8​ controller
    • Lenovo ThinkSmart Edition Tiny
    • VESA/Wall Mount Kit
    • 10m fiber optic USB cable

 

  • G40-T, designed for small to medium-sized rooms:
    • Poly GC8 controller
    • Lenovo ThinkSmart Edition Tiny
    • VESA/Wall Mount Kit
    • 10-meter USB-Fiber cable
    • Poly Studio USB

 

  • G80-T, designed for medium to large-sized rooms:
    • Poly GC8 controller
    • Lenovo ThinkSmart Edition Tiny​
    • VESA/Wall Mount Kit
    • 10-meter USB-Fiber cable (25-meter, 40-meter, option also available)
    • EagleEye Director II
    • Trio C60

Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms will begin shipping upon Microsoft Teams certification, in the coming months to select regions. For more information, please visit: https://www.poly.com/us/en/solutions/platform/microsoft/teams-rooms

Belfast based Thrive launches rapid deployment internal comms app to fast track employee communication with frontline teams. #Thrive

Belfast based Thrive, a leading provider of employee communication and engagement software, announced today the launch of its newest self-service, rapid deployment Thrive.App. This brings together the key features needed for businesses to power up their internal communications for their frontline employees, and can be set up and launched within hours. Thrive’s platform and apps are already used by over 250,000 employees, across the public sector, healthcare, manufacturing, food production, transport and retail, Thrive’s clients include SGN, Fairchild Medical Centre, An Post, Children’s Health Ireland, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Air France KLM.

James Scott, CEO of Thrive comments,

“Our newest Thrive.App will help many companies manage the complex work required to move comms from noticeboards to mobile phones. It’s engineered to make the setup, sign off and success of introducing a digital communication channel easier than ever before, taking the risk and worry away from launching a new solution. 

Using Thrive.App, organisations can now set up an employee comms app within hours, with predefined content templates, drag and drop functionality, customised themes to suit their brands and best practice guidance from our team.

One of the key benefits is that companies can see their employee app come to life immediately, with their own content in the app. They can also get crucial feedback from key stakeholders, business leaders and most importantly their employees with no upfront commitment.”

In this new world, in the wake of Covid-19, business transformation is happening everywhere and each organisation is relying on technology more than ever before. With over 80% of the world’s workforce being deskless, employee communication apps are playing key roles in keeping front line teams informed, engaged, supported and recognised.

James Scott, CEO of Thrive adds,

“We take pride in the guidance we give to people who are thinking about deploying an app. The rapid deployment of Thrive.App will help businesses even further in making their decisions quicker as well as fast tracking their way to better communications.

We are extremely excited about the launch, especially during this time of uncertainty, when effective communication is vital. We hope this launch will enable more people and organisations to see the benefits of moving to a digital communications channel during this challenging time.”

Thrive’s technology has been used actively throughout the Coronavirus period across its client base, with Thrive reporting an all-time usage peak – some as high as 200%. One of Thrive’s client’s is Children’s Health Ireland and Trevor Murphy, Director of Human Resources comments: “With our programme for change in preparation for our move to the new children’s hospital and the current health crisis we are facing, there has never been a more important time for us to ensure our colleagues are connected, sharing and receiving important information and feel fully supported and recognised.

A massive and sincere thanks to all the Thrive team for ‘the can do’ attitude in assisting us in launching our employee app. It is hugely welcomed by all as a great support for communicating key and important updates, information and support for our staff at this very difficult time.”

The initial feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive and we are excited to roll it out to our staff across all our sites, in particularly those who are working remotely due to the current guidelines on physical and social distancing.”

Using the Thrive.App clients can quickly remove the reliance on notice boards and allow front line teams easy access to critical information, gather feedback, encourage two-way communication and social communities via user generated content, celebrate success through recognition, build stronger teams and build stronger businesses.