Category: Tech News

Working from home securely: Coronavirus contingency planning guide. #Coronavirus #COVID-19 #CWSI

The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ireland is posing a new challenge for businesses, namely, how do companies quickly mobilise a remote working solution to enable employees to work productively from home? Several companies have already asked their employees to work from home for short periods, and with further cases expected in Ireland, it Is likely that more companies will be forced to close their offices at times.

However, not all organisations are prepared for such a measure and many are now currently scrambling to quickly put a remote working solution in place. In the rush to do so, many may compromise on security and expose themselves to huge risks.

As companies flock to potentially unsecure work environments, hackers and cyber-criminals will see this as an opportune time to ramp up their level of attacks. Advanced methods like SMS phishing and login-screen phishing can target remote working devices and grant attackers access to company information.

Paul Conaty, Principal Consultant, CWSI, commented: “While organisations have been, to varying degrees, incorporating more flexible elements into the workplace, the outbreak of the coronavirus has pushed remote working into centre stage. The challenge for employers is to implement not only a productive work from home solution, but also a secure one. While mitigating against the risk of the coronavirus, organisations may be unwittingly exposing themselves to a host of very different kinds of viruses.

 

“Personal devices used to access company data often lack the levels of security that are in place on work devices behind the company firewall. Cyber-criminals will see the current situation as a huge opportunity to gain entry to company systems and it’s vital businesses review the security of their remote working environment before being forced to roll it out across the organisation.”

 

With this five-step contingency planning guide, organisations can quickly implement actionable steps to help secure their work from home policy.

  1. Map out your current remote working setup

Take stock of your infrastructure and map out every device that is used to connect to your network. Do employees use company or personal devices? What verification systems do you have in place. Get an overview of where you currently are before planning the next steps.

  1. Bolster security and monitoring of your environment

Many software licences and IT infrastructures that enable remote working come with security and monitoring measures as standard. Review your set-up and make sure these are enabled and kept up-to-date. Multifactor authentication for example ensures that the right individuals have access to the right resources at the right time and for the right reasons.

  1. Communicate your remote working policy to workers

Hold information sessions, send remote working guides via email and give updates on policy changes to all staff. Users should be fully aware of their rights and responsibilities and are more likely to accept privacy compromises or other measures if the reasons for these requirements are clearly communicated beforehand.

  1. Test the environment to ensure employees can work properly

Once a remote working solution is in place, carry out tests as soon as possible to ensure employees can carry out their work. If devices are locked down too severely, employees will seek free unsecure cloud services to bypass these lockdowns. Shadow IT is a huge security risk facing organisation so make sure your approved remote working solution works well.

  1. Support users and monitor systems on an ongoing basis

It’s inevitable there will be some issues when rolling out a working from home policy, so ensure your IT support team is available and equipped to help resolve problems. Monitor the network to remain vigilant against threats and learn more about how to improve remote performance. Proactively support your employees and keep your sensitive data secure and protected at all times.

For more detailed information, visit: https://cwsisecurity.com/resource/how-to-work-from-home-covid-19-coronavirus-contingency-planning-guide/

Disney+ coming to Amazon Fire TV and Fire Tablets in Ireland March 24th #Disney+ #Amazon #FireTV

Disney+, the new streaming service from the Walt Disney Company, will be available on Amazon devices in Ireland including Fire TV streaming devices and compatible Fire Tablets on March 24th.

Disney+ offers fans of all ages a new way to experience the unparalleled content from the company’s iconic entertainment brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, as well as exclusive original programming including feature-length films, series, documentaries, and short-form content made exclusively for the service such as The Mandalorian, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.

On Fire TV, finding the Disney+ app and content is easy with Alexa; customers can use their included Alexa Voice Remote, paired Echo device. Disney+ content will be included in Fire TV’s universal search feature making it easy to find and discover content with your voice. When the app becomes available customers will be able to say things like:

  • “Alexa, find Disney+”
  • “Alexa, open Disney+”
  • “Alexa, play [name of show]”
  •  “Alexa, find Star Wars movies.”

Fire Tablet customers can download movies, TV series or shorts, and watch whenever they want. Customers can also pause a show on their Fire TV and resume watching on their Fire Tablet, so they can enjoy Disney+ on the go, wherever they are.

Fire TV and Fire Tablet customers can sign up for a seven-day free trial directly on their Amazon device starting March 24th, after which they will be charged £5.99/€6.99 a month or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription. If a customer signed up for Disney+ on another device, they can simply log into their account.

Experts in automation and connected factories gather in Galway – Ibec Medtech and Engineering #MedTech #Ibec

Ibec Medtech and Engineering, the Ibec group which represents the sectors, is today holding its Manufacturing the Future Conference in Galway, where experts in the fields of automation, connected factories and the Internet of Things shall gather. The conference takes place against the backdrop of the publication of the group’s report ‘The race to embrace digital manufacturing: Lessons from Ireland’s journey’ (see attached). The report revealed that six in ten business leaders intend to invest in connected factories and the Internet of Things and more than two thirds of those surveyed are already implementing automation.

Irish Medtech Association Senior Executive Adrienne McDonnell said, “All around the world smart technologies are changing the way people live and work. Similarly, the rapid evolution of production, information and operating technology is slowly transforming manufacturing. Making strategic choices about digitalisation of manufacturing will differentiate Irish operations and overall global competitiveness.

This conference will support leaders to make better decisions on areas like advanced technologies, sustainability and leaner and greener manufacturing. Along with benchmarking, best practice sharing is key for businesses to effectively embrace advanced manufacturing. We’re excited to have experts from world-class businesses like DePuy Synthes, Boston Scientific and Siemens sharing their insights today.

“Smart factories are transforming manufacturing and four out of five member companies surveyed said that automation of manufacturing was critical to their success. While eight out of ten expect digitalisation to lead to increased resource efficiency, one of the greatest barriers to advanced manufacturing is integrating new technologies according to half of respondents. One of the keys to tackling this challenge is employee engagement and upskilling with seven in ten manufacturing leaders saying that further training of employees is critical.

  “We would like to thank our sponsors for their support, Platinum Sponsors Siemens and Boston Scientific; Gold Sponsor, Stryker; Silver Sponsors, Accenture,Caragh Precision, DePuy Synthes, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Irish Manufacturing Research, Irish Medtech Skillnet, and LBS Partners”.

For more information on ‘Manufacturing the Future Conference’ please visitwww.manufacturingthefuture.ie

 

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Padhraic McGinn, Senior Operations Director Europe, Nypro Healthcare
  • Adrienne McDonnell, Irish Medtech Association Senior Executive
  • Dr David Moloney, Principal Engineer and CTO,IntelMovidius
  • Joe Portley, Vice President of Global Engineering Services at Wright Medical
  • Martin McVicar, CEO, Combi-lift
  • Colm Jordan, Recycling Communications and Government Relations Global Manager, Indorama Ventures
  • Prof Richard Keegan, Adjunct Professor, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin
  • Orlaith Lawler, Site Director, Beckman Coulter Clare
  • Vivian Farrell, CEO, Modular Automation
  • Peter Docker, Co-Founder WhyNot Unlimited
  • Cathal O’Reilly, Senior Director – Enterprise Excellence, Teleflex Incorporated

Over 225 million eSIM Enabled Smartphones to be Delivered in 2020, boosted by Samsung’s S20 Devices.

eSIM smartphone growth continues its upward trajectory, and 2020 will prove another positive year as Samsung becomes the latest OEM to boost the eSIM market.  The recent launch of the Samsung S20 range of devices with eSIM support will propel global shipments of eSIM enabled smartphones to over 225 million in 2020, according to global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.

Ever since Apple first announced eSIM support in its XR and S range of devices in 2018, all eyes were firmly placed on Samsung as the next OEM to support eSIM in its flagship devices. “It was always a case of when, rather than if, Samsung would support eSIM. 2020 marks a defining year and another milestone for the eSIM market. Having the largest smartphone OEM onboard, shipping over 200 million devices annually is a significant market step. Industry experts will now be closely monitoring Samsung and how it might start expanding eSIM support to other device ranges, including its Note and A ranges,” explains Phil Sealy, Digital Security Research Director at ABI Research.

There is no question that 2020 eSIM smartphone shipments will hit over the 225 million mark, and ABI Research remains extremely optimistic about eSIM growth. Based on a continuation of eSIM support from Apple, Google, and Samsung, plus the eSIM expansion by Samsung into other device ranges and several other OEMs launching flagship eSIM enabled devices, expect a minimum of 500 million eSIM capable smartphones to ship globally in 2024.

image credit samsung.com

 

“Despite the optimism and Samsung’s inclusion of eSIM technology in its S20 range of devices, there remains much work to be done across the entire value chain, Sealy points out. From a smartphone OEM perspective, Apple, Google, Samsung, and Motorola are the only vendors with eSIM capable smartphone devices. Further, although eSIM readiness from an operator perspective continues to improve, there is no operator to date exclusively supporting eSIM. At the same time, many operators are not yet eSIM ready.

The cellular market is fast approaching a new tipping point as it relates to consumer subscriptions and data consumption. Cellular speed and bandwidth remain important cellular aspects. Still, as data-centric consumption continues to rise and cellular connectivity enablement increases on more consumer device types (laptops, tablets, smartwatches etc.), emphasis will shift from data-centric billing toward device bundles.

Sealy concludes, “The cellular connectivity market and how data is consumed will transform consumer subscriptions models. Device OEMs such as Samsung have an integral role to play in facilitating this transformation. OEMs want to provide flexibility to their consumer device users and create further brand stickiness by enabling a cellular-connected “family” of products and cross-device mirrored experiences, using eSIM as the enabling technology. Alongside this is an understanding that subscription offerings are evolving (voice packages to data and soon toward device bundles), the latter of which will require Remote Subscription Management (RSM) to share a profile over multiple device types.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s eSIM in the Consumer and M2M Markets market data report. This report is part of the company’s Digital Security research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Market Data spreadsheets are composed of deep data, market share analysis, and highly segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight where opportunities lie.

New IDTechEx Research Reports Identify Technologies for the Future of Healthcare. #Health #IDTechEx

IDTechEx, market intelligence and events company focusing on emerging technologies, publish research reports that identify top future technologies in healthcare. With demographic changes such as the aging of the population, IDTechEx forecasts there to be strong growth in technologies that help healthcare providers manage the growing burden on the healthcare system while maintaining high quality care.

 

Wearable medical devices offer continuous health monitoring and provide deeper insight into a patient’s health status than non-wearable medical devices which only provide snapshots at fixed times. In IDTechEx’s new report, “Cardiovascular Disease 2020 – 2030”, wearables such as smart clothing and electronic skin patches are covered extensively. These soft and conformal devices provide medical-grade continuous health monitoring for cardiovascular disease patients. These comfortable devices provide monitoring over longer periods of time than traditional devices, allowing doctors to catch events that would previously have been missed. Overall, IDTechEx has forecast that the market for wearable medical devices (across all applications) to reach $19.7 billion by 2024.

 

 

Consumer electronics broadens health monitoring. While monitoring in consumer electronics has previously focused on fitness applications, companies are now entering the healthcare space. Devices such as smartwatches now broaden the access of continuous monitoring to a much larger audience. Consumers buy these devices for their primary function but benefit from background screening of hard-to-detect diseases such as atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea. In certain applications, the improvements of smartphone and tablet cameras means that a separate device is not even needed.

 

Technology development brings molecular diagnostics to the point-of-care. As evidenced by the COVID-19 outbreak that is currently ongoing around the world, there is a strong need for point-of-care diagnostics in the management of infectious disease outbreaks. Healthcare providers need to act quickly, but that is hampered when the testing takes multiple hours at a centralized facility. IDTechEx forecasts the market for point-of-care biomedical diagnostics to reach $43 billion by 2029. We have identified molecular diagnostics as the fastest growing segment, and our latest report “Molecular Diagnostics 2020-2030” forecasts the market (including but not limited to point-of-care) to reach $20 billion by 2030.

 

In addition to our market research reports, IDTechEx also hosts events on emerging technologies. For more information on wearables and sensors for point-of-care diagnostics and continuous monitoring, please refer to upcoming IDTechEx conference and table-top exhibition, Healthcare Sensor Innovations USA 2020, 17 – 18 March 2020 in San Jose

 

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

This Week on Stadia. Get Serious… #Stadia #Gaming

The Serious Sam Collection launches today on Stadia. If you’ve never experienced the unique Serious take on the first-person shooter genre, you’re in for an absolute treat. Forget about taking cover or employing carefully-synergized squad-based teamwork… Serious Sam is all about speed, aggression, lightning-quick reactions, and blowing things up with very big guns. You’ll face truly vast swarms of bizarre enemies, absolutely colossal bosses, and huge stages crammed with secrets, traps, and monsters.

The Serious Sam Collection includes three classic Serious Sam games in one package:

  • Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
  • Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
  • Serious Sam 3: BFE

Buy the Serious Sam Collection in the Stadia store today for $29.99 USD.

Learn more about the deranged minds behind Serious Sam and what makes it such an enduring classic in this recent dev diary with Chief Creative Officer Davor Hunski.

See more

High-speed fibre now makes up half of fixed Internet in nine OECD countries. #Broadband #OECD

Nine OECD countries – up from six a year ago – now have high-speed fibre making up 50% or more of their fixed Internet connections, according to an update to the OECD’s broadband portal.

Across the 37 countries studied, the share of fibre in total broadband has only risen slightly, to 27% as of June 30 2019 from 24% a year earlier, reflecting the still-wide gap between countries in rolling out fibre, which enables much faster fixed and mobile Internet. You can see how Ireland fits in HERE

The data shows Lithuania, Latvia, Spain and New Zealand starting to catch up with long-time fibre leaders Korea, Japan and the Nordic countries thanks to a mixture of increased competition, good regulation and policy and new infrastructure investment. Korea and Japan have a fibre share of over 75% in total broadband, while Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia,

Spain, Iceland, Finland and Norway are all above 50% fibre. New Zealand and Portugal are just below 50% and close to joining the leaders.

In the year to June 30 2019, the number of fibre subscriptions increased by 13.8% across the 37 countries measured (the 36 OECD countries plus Colombia, whose accession is imminent.)

                        Percentage of fibre connections in total fixed broadband, June 2019

Cable remains stable with a slight increase of 4.3% in the year to June 30 2019 and accounts for a significant 33.6% of all fixed broadband connections. DSL is increasingly being replaced by fibre and its share has fallen from 41.6% to 35.1% in two years.

Overall country rankings for fixed broadband subscriptions remain very similar to those of the previous years, with Switzerland in the lead having a penetration rate of 46.1 subscriptions per 100 people, followed by France (43.7%), Denmark (43.4%), the Netherlands (43.1%) and Korea (41.9%).

Mobile broadband subscriptions continue to grow strongly at a stable rate of around 7% a year. The countries with the highest penetration rates are Japan, Finland, Estonia, the United States and Australia, with subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at 177%, 155%, 153%, 150% and 144% respectively.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) SIM cards, are experiencing the highest growth of all our indicators with a 30% increase in one year. The leading countries are Sweden with 140.6 M2M SIM cards per 100 inhabitants, followed by Austria, Italy, the United States and the Netherlands. The high number of M2M SIM cards provided by Sweden is due in part to the use of these SIM cards in other countries by a Swedish operator.

The OECD’s broadband statistics cover 37 countries. You can download the underlying data, charts and broadband penetration maps for different countries at http://oe.cd/broadband.

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

emporia introduces four new 4G devices to the UK; both feature and smartphones. #emporia #mobile #tech

The need to communicate does not lessen with age. If anything, older people need more communication with family, friends, support services and others. As modern technology continues to evolve, many retirees find themselves in danger of being left behind or even isolated by difficult technology.
 
emporia is delighted to today announce four new state-of-the-art 4G devices to the UK market that respond to this demographic’s needs, by offering connectivity in the form of simple and easy-to-use phones.
 
The new quad announcement sees one new smartphone, two feature phones, and a touch screen hybrid feature phone join the company’s portfolio of easy-to-use devices for the growing number of retirees. “We put ease of use first, because that’s what senior citizens want. There are still millions of people who type and don’t want to swipe, so we’re staying true to our philosophy and continuing to offer the popular feature phones in addition to the smartphones,” says Eveline Pupeter, owner and CEO of emporia telecom.
 
The new 4G VoLTE-compatible devices are available now through emporia’s UK distributor; Eurostar Global. The partnership started earlier this year when emporia launched in the UK market, and is strengthened with the addition of the four new devices in the distributor’s growing profile. 
 
Millington says: “There are huge opportunities within the UK retiree category to provide handsets that mirror the needs of the users, at an accessible price point. Not one user in this demographic is the same when they reach retirement at 66. Quite simply, this means those in this demographic need mobile phones that give them each the ability to communicate easily with family and friends. I’m delighted to introduce these four new devices to retail and wholesale customers across the UK through our partnership with Eurostar Global, as I’m confident they fully understand our users and mission.”
 
Steve Hankey, Head of Commercial and Vendor Management at Eurostar Global adds: “An ageing global population has lead to a clearly growing market, where seniors are often left isolated and overwhelmed by technology. Eurostar Global is looking forward to being part of the solution by working closely with emporia to bring its excellent portfolio of products to UK consumers. This portfolio expansion will enable us to offer even more suitable devices to retirees around the UK.”
 
All four new handsets feature 4G and are VoLTE compatible, providing better connectivity and coverage, but also a crucial additional benefit for many of the retiree users; better sound quality on voice calls. 
 
UK and Ireland MD Chris Millington comments: “4G and VoLTE are essential for us to offer this demographic the best in sound in their handsets as the technology allows us to push much wider spectrums of the call to the user and coupled with extra loud sound, this is the perfect combination for addressing age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Ultimately, it also strengthens the senior proposition for mobile networks as our phones with VoLTE fulfil the technological requirements of the operators so that they can leverage their network connectivity.”
 
emporiaSMART.3mini is an easy-to-use smartphone with a stylish compact size, that fulfils all the main requirements of a smartphone but with a tailored, easy-to-use interface. Key features include: 8mp and 5mp cameras, long battery life, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. The 4.95-inch touchscreen has a large, clear screen for users to navigate easily and read from. This new smartphone is built with the end user in mind with; an intuitive interface, dust and splash-proofing exterior (IP54), hearing aid-compatibility, acoustic amplification, and an emergency call button.
The emporiaSMART.3mini comes with a unique training book designed to help  users get the most from their smartphone, and at their own pace. It offers a point of reference so that they can independently learn more about their device without relying on family, friends or mobile stores.
SRP: £150
 
emporiaTOUCHsmart is a clever combination (or hybrid) of the best elements of a smartphone and feature phone. As one of the smartest clamshell phones on the market, it is operated by touchscreen but also has a well-spaced keypad for the best of both worlds. The device has a dedicated WhatsApp button for direct access to the popular messaging app. Like all emporia phones, it also has an emergency assistance call function, camera, radio and torch, and is dust and splash-proof thanks to its nano-coating (IP54).
SRP: £150
 
emporiaACTIVE is emporia’s latest bar phone. It has extra-large, illuminated keys, a large display with easy to read text and the optional high contrast. It is hearing aid compatible and has an emergency call function, a camera, and an alarm clock. This feature phone is ideal for users who have no need for smart features like the internet or WhatsApp, but do require a device with practical applications, geared towards their hearing and dexterity abilities.
SRP: £90
 
emporiaACTIVEglam is a clamshell, or flip, device, for users who are looking for a stylish yet simple to use feature phone. Like the emporiaACTIVE, the ACTIVEglam also runs on the AndroidGo operating system and offers the same essential features like illuminated keys, emergency call function, hearing aid compatibility and a camera; in a compact and secure design. 
SRP: £100
 
Studies* commissioned by emporia have shown that older people want to retain independence in their lives – and this includes using the latest means of communication. “Retirees don’t want to have to ask someone how to send a photo via WhatsApp, email or SMS; they simply want to do it.”
 
“In our research, we found that more than 90% of those surveyed say that they value contact with relatives and friends. With the embedded WhatsApp button on our smart devices, they can be more involved in their families and friends’ lives – a simple picture share, or video call can strengthen that communication,” says Pupeter.
 
Millington adds: “For many in retirement, and facing retirement at the new state pension age of 66, they are taking daily decisions on spending and on the value they get from purchases. Their mobile phone is something they need to get maximum value from, not just in the cost of purchase, but in they way they can use it to do what they want. For many, who may have been given a device by someone else, the technology is not right for them and they will benefit from buying something which is designed specifically with them in mind.”

emporia is the European leader in easy-to-use devices for the growing number of retirees. Having recently appointed Chris Millington as UK and Ireland MD and officially launched in this market, these new feature and smartphones add to the portfolio of devices aimed at improving communication for this demographic in the form of a ‘simple to understand’ phone.

AVer Europe launches new enterprise professional conferencing system. VC520 PRO #AVer #Tech

AVer Europe, the award-winning provider of video collaboration solutions, has today announced the launch of its professional conferencing system the VC520 Pro in the UK.

The VC520 Pro has been developed by AVer Europe as a solution for various meeting room sizes, alleviating the challenges that teams face on conference calls. The VC520 Pro has an audio pickup range of 15 feet and the ability to daisy-chain two additional speakerphones to reach up to 45 feet, offering ultra-clear unparalleled audio even throughout large meeting rooms.

With Sony True WDR capability, AVer Europe’s VC520 Pro offers clear and high-quality imaging even in high contrast backlit environments. With up to 1080p and 60fps even in poor lighting, the conferencing system’s 12X optical zoom with precise detail enables teams to showcase items such as products or documents live in the room on camera.

 

The VC520 Pro’s SmartFrame technology uses face recognition to automatically adjust the camera to include all members in the room in the frame. This includes anyone new that enters the meeting room, saving any delays if any colleagues are running late.

AVer Europe’s VC520 Pro features advanced centralised management through an internet browser to enable users to remotely control the camera and stream on platforms such as Facebook or YouTube.

“We’ve all been on video conference calls with poor sound or visual quality and it’s hugely frustrating, not to mention a drain on business time, resource and money,” explains Rene Buhay, AVer Europe Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The VC520 Pro’s feature combination of 12X optical zoom, Sony True WDR, full HD and the opportunity to expand with extra speakers and microphones means that communication is transformed into a lifelike audiovisual experience.”

The VC520 Pro from AVer Europe has a 3-year warranty with a free 2-year warranty extension available at MSRP £1049.