Category: Tech News

Home Security will be key for the new Smart Home revolution Says @AOatHome #Home #Tech

  • Smart security systems will lead the Smart Home revolution – 37% of the population would buy one if money were no object
  • Smart TV’s, laptops and tablets are already being used to introduce smart technology in the home
  • AO.com predict Smart Home technology will spread out of the living room via home security and heating, to embrace many areas of the home

Home security is a top priority for homeowners investing in Smart Home technology, a new census reveals. This also runs with our current run of posts and products we are now testing in house here with affordable home security products,stay tuned for those reviews soon…

The research, provided by OnePoll and commissioned by online electrical retailer AO.com shows that if money was no object, UK residents would invest in a smart security system for their home (37%). This beats products such as virtual digital assistants, which only 1 in 8 of the population would buy (12%), robot lawnmowers (18%) and remote controlled heating for the whole house (29%).

Of the 2,000 respondents, 68% see positive factors in owning smart technology such as ‘convenience’ and ‘saving time’. 18-24 year olds believe that this form of technology could benefit the elderly, whilst 25-34 and 45-54 year olds think that a Smart Home would help save money in the long run

Smart Homes start in the living room

39% of respondents said they currently own a smart TV and a further 15% say they will buy one in the next 12 months, with 75% believing they will have a smart TV in the future.  38% of 18-24 years olds that don’t own a smart TV said they don’t feel the need to buy one, as they already own a plug in or accessory to make a standard TV smart.

Our viewing habits are also changing, as 32% of the nation don’t frequently consume live TV and instead opt for on demand services, subscriptions or streaming, which increases the demand for smart TVs or accessories. 5% of the population now watch TV while commuting, with this figure rising to 11% in London.

Top smart products the UK plans to buy in the next 12 months

The most desired Smart Home products, (listed below) shows that whilst we’re not quite ready for advanced Smart Home technology such as robot vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers, we are happy to embrace smart products such as laptops, tablets and smart TVs.

  • Laptop (17%)
  • Tablet (17%)
  • Smart TV/4K/OLED (15%)
  • Smart TV accessory (11%)
  • Turn on heating remotely (9%)
  • Virtual digital assistant (5%)

 

We love being connected

Over 1 in 3 people aged below 35 could not cope without access to their phone, laptop or tablet for more than 3 hours, with the majority of this age group not being able to last 8 hours. 29% of 18 to 24 year olds would rather leave the house with their mobile phone than their spouse, children or money.

Commenting on the census results, Andrew Kirkcaldy, Group Brand Director at AO.com said:

“The research suggests that the Smart Home revolution has already started with Smart TV’s and audio, and we haven’t even noticed it. For many homes, smart home security and heating will take this technology out of the living room, leading to a Smart Home that will help save us money and time, while making our lives easier”

 Read the full AO Smart Living Census Report here: http://ao.com/life/smart-home-technology/

 

AmpliFi HD Mesh Wi-Fi Products Launch in the United Kingdom. #WIFI #AmpliFiHD

Ubiquiti Labs, the consumer technology arm of wireless networking company Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. today announced the availability of its AmpliFi HD Mesh Wi-Fi products in the United Kingdom. AmpliFi HD is designed to solve many of the widely-recognised challenges of the connected home, including dead zones, slow connections, and difficulties in setting up and configuring a router.

 

AmpliFi HD Wi-Fi stands out in its category through a unique combination of form and function. Designed from the outside in, AmpliFi is meant to be a showcase piece for the modern home. The central routing device camouflages an advanced antenna design as a stunning desktop piece featuring a glowing base LED and a smart LCD display. The router connects to adjustable MeshPoints that distribute Wi-Fi throughout the home. To reduce clutter, the MeshPoints can seamlessly be installed into any open electrical socket without any cables.

 

AmpliFi HD offers plug-and-play setup through an app that directly links AmpliFi devices to a smartphone via Bluetooth LE.  With a simple, intuitive setup, users can manage their new network, monitor ISP speeds, invite guests, create family profiles, oversee network security, and access 24/7, live, in-app support. The system utilises 802.11AC Wi-Fi technology, powering up to 5.45 Gbps of aggregate wireless throughput along with breakthrough coverage performance through 3×3 antennas.

Ben Moore, Vice President of Business Development at Ubiquiti Networks commented: “AmpliFi HD Mesh Wi-Fi solutions quickly gained popularity in the United States due to their sleek industrial design, plug-and-play installation, and superior performance. We are excited to now make them available to customers in the United Kingdom.”

Moore continued: “As our homes get smarter, there’s an increasing need for reliable and fast Wi-Fi in every corner. AmpliFi HD leveragesUbiquiti’s advanced and proven technology that powers over 38 million Wi-Fi radios for enterprise and service provider networks around the globe. The system provides unmatched performance and coverage, delivering fast internet bandwidth throughout the entire home and supports a large number of Wi-Fi devices at the same time.”

 

AmpliFi HD features unlimited scalability and is fully customisable for any home no matter the square footage. Customers can, for example, buy the standalone AmpliFi HD Router first and add the AmpliFi HD MeshPoints later for increased coverage. The AmpliFi HD MeshPoints are also the first of its kind that work with any third-party Wi-Fi router to create a mesh Wi-Fi system.

Pricing and Availability

AmpliFi HD Mesh System – £359.99

Standalone AmpliFi HD Router – £149.99

Standalone AmpliFi HD MeshPoint – £132.49

AmpliFi HD products are available now in the United Kingdom from Scan Computers on scan.co.uk and on Amazon.co.uk with additional retailers to follow in the coming months.  Visit www.amplifi.com for more information.

ATM crooks up the ante to steal your pin! Naked Security by Sophos. #ATM #Security

When at an ATM, we all zone in on the task at hand. Getting cash. Completely forgetting what those behind us can see and how they might be planning to also access our account. Unlike popular pantomimes, it now seems that worrying about what is behind you is only the tip of the iceberg.

Witnessed in Oklahoma, a wafer-thin infrared device was discovered collecting information from both the ATM itself and video footage of the ATM keypad. Providing the criminal everything required to clone a card and go on a shopping spree at the expense of someone else.

While infrared is not new technology, in fact we use it to control our TV’s and it can even be traced back to the Cold War. It does however indicate that the criminals had to be within line of sight of the ATM to receive the transmission of data.

When we think of infrared technology, our minds go in many different directions at once as we march through the variety of uses for infrared. For those who follow the myriad television crime dramas, their minds no doubt go to the use of infrared photography at crime scenes. For those who are birdwatchers, infrared video can capture the hummingbird’s expenditure of energy. For most us, we think of the remote control which connects us from our couch-potato position to our television.

Well, there’s one more to add to this list – use of infrared video to transmit data captured at your bank’s ATM by criminals wishing to clone and use your bank cards.

The newfangled ATM skimmer was found in Norman, Oklahoma and according to the Norman police department, the device which they discovered in June 2017 was wafer-thin and undetectable by the victim. This skimmer had an antenna attached which served to broadcast the collected information to a tiny camera, which had visibility of the ATM’s keypad.

Security investigative reporter Brian Krebs dug a bit deeper into this skimmer and learned that these criminals had mastered, using infrared technology, to not only transmit the data captured by the skimmer, but also to transmit the accompanying keypad video.

Infrared for data transfer is not new

Using infrared as a means to transmit data has been around for many years and is a highly efficient means to transmit at speeds many magnitudes faster than both Bluetooth and WiFi.

Furthermore, the use of an infrared transmitter greatly reduces the odds of having their transmissions inadvertently detected, when compared to WiFi or Bluetooth, which is present on every smartphone.

The criminals had only placed themselves at risk during time they put the device and video camera in place (Krebs has posted a photo of the two Oklahoma suspects), and when receiving the infrared signal (being in proximity to the ATM).

You’d have thought the criminals were Cold War history buffs, as their use of the concept of collect, store and forward data was previously perfected by the Russians. The KGB doctored several electric typewriters within the US embassy in Moscow in the 1980s which stored the key strokes and then used signal bursts to send the data to listening posts nearby. The implants were, like the ATM skimmers, deeply embedded in the hardware of the typewriter.

Available information doesn’t tell us if these ATM skimmer devices used directed or diffused infrared, a point of interest from a defensive standpoint. If the criminals used directed infrared, then their data collection point was within line of sight of the infrared transmitter – in other words, they would have to see the ATM, and thus could be seen from the ATM.

If their infrared signal used diffused infrared, then their collection point need only be in signal proximity, as the signal is more forgiving to line-of-sight disruption and therefore, a bit harder to observe.

The ever-reducing costs of readily available component parts make these devices essentially throw-away devices. Run the device for as long as the internal battery provides energy, and then move on.

What can the financial institutions do?

  • Review the video at their ATMs with regularity – in this instance, it appears that the criminals were visible on video at the ATM but do not conduct a transaction.
  • Install touchless technology, like NFC (near field communications), which will enable users to use their EMV/NFC debit/credit cards, key fob or smartphone to access their accounts.
  • Or as has recently been implemented in Macau, by the Macau Monetary Authority, “Know Your Customer” technology requires that each ATM use facial recognition technology.

What should we do?

The low-tech solution is to cover your keyboard hand with a newspaper or your other hand when entering your pin codes – which will certainly stop anyone sneakily filming you as you tap in your PIN.

For tips on how you and financial institutions can remain protected while at an ATM, take a moment to review the following Naked Security article.

55% of young people plan to ditch TV licence – Pure Telecom survey reveals. #TV

The survey found that 55% of young TV licence holders (aged 30 and under) are planning to, or considering, stopping payment of their licence solely due to an increase in viewing online content. On average, 43% of licence holders are thinking about ditching their TV licence for the same reason.The survey found that the average person spends 6 hours and 36 minutes streaming content each week, rising to 8 hours 47 minutes for people aged 30 and under. I for one outside this bracket will be and I think its time some changes where made here like RTE going subscription falling in line with current trends giving people the option to subscribe rather than how it is now which is enforced.

The new online survey from Irish telecoms and broadband provider, Pure Telecom, has revealed that 55% of Irish TV licence holders aged 30 and under are planning to, or considering, ceasing payment of their TV licence due to an increase in consumption of online content and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The research*, carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom, surveyed 1,001 online adults across Ireland in July 2017.

  • Pure Telecom survey finds 55% of TV licence holders aged 30 and under are planning to, or considering, stopping payment of their licence due to increased viewing of online content
  • 17% of same age group have already stopped paying a TV licence fee
  • On average, consumers watch 6 hours 36 minutes of streamed or internet-reliant content each week, rising to 8 hours 47 minutes for 30 and under age group
  • People living in Donegal are the highest consumers of online content, while consumers from Cavan watch the least
  • 62% of Irish adults opposed to extension of TV licence to cover online media consumption

 

The survey highlights how traditional TV viewing habits are changing, as increasing numbers are choosing to go solely online to watch TV and on-demand content. Currently, any household with a TV set is required to pay the €160 licence fee, however the charge does not apply to those who view all their video content via laptops, tablets or smartphones.

Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom

Pure Telecom’s research found that in total, 43% of Irish TV licence holders are planning to, or considering, ditching their TV licence solely due to an increase in online viewing. The research found that one-in-10 Irish adults have already stopped paying the TV licence, rising to 17% in the 30 and under age group.

The survey also found that the average consumer spends 6 hours 36 minutes watching streamed or online content each week. This trend is even more pronounced with younger audiences, with those aged 30 and under consuming 8 hours 47 minutes of online video per week. The research found that people living in Donegal are the heaviest consumers of streamed and online content, watching 10 hours 18 minutes each week. That is followed by those living in Meath (9 hours 13 minutes) and Galway (7 hours 53 minutes). Those living in Cavan spend the least time on streaming sites, watching only 3 hours 12 minutes per week.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said: “The quality of content produced for online platforms has been steadily rising to the point where it is now at least on par with – and in many cases it outshines – what is offered on traditional television channels. People also now take for granted the convenience of on-demand viewing and the ability to watch content on-the-go. Coupled with very high quality content now available online, it is natural that consumers are questioning the need to continue to pay for a TV licence.

 The results come as no surprise to us at Pure Telecom and solidify our commitment to providing the lower cost, fast and reliable home broadband service that is essential to delivering high quality viewing experiences for our customers. As people become increasingly reliant on internet-driven content, we are ensuring we will be there to provide the best service for everyone’s broadband needs.”

 Earlier in the year the Department of Communications considered an extension of the TV licence fee, which would apply to owners of computers, laptops and large tablets – a suggestion that has since been scrapped. The survey highlighted that there is little appetite for the charge amongst Irish adults, with 62% opposed to its introduction.

#RiskIQ Reveals Digital Footprint Snapshot – On-demand, Cost-Effective External Asset Intelligence Report

RiskIQ’s new digital footprint snapshot which provides organisations with an automated, on-demand intelligence report of their internet-facing digital assets. Snapshot reports offer a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to discover and understand the diverse, distributed, and dynamic set of digital assets connected to an organisation outside the firewall.This is a really cool addition to the RiskIQ armoury..

RiskIQ, the leader in digital threat management, today unveiled RiskIQ Digital Footprint Snapshot, which provides organisations with an automated, on-demand intelligence report of their internet-facing digital assets. Snapshot reports offer a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to discover and understand the diverse, distributed, and dynamic set of digital assets connected to an organisation outside the firewall. Enterprises can incorporate this digital footprint intelligence as part of their integrated risk management program aimed to reduce their attack surface and protect their business.

For a no-cost preview, organisations can log into RiskIQ Community Edition. Here, companies can access RiskIQ’s entry-level products, such as Digital Footprint, and view a free high-level snapshot. Users simply log in with their corporate email address to obtain an immediate glimpse into their external asset map and inventory.

According to Forrester Research, digital footprints are incredibly vast and chaotic. “A firm’s digital footprints encompass every touch point, mention and affiliation that links to the company. Given the large number of social networks, mobile apps, and websites where this activity can occur, the number of associated corporate accounts, sites, apps, and ads can easily rise into the thousands for large organisations. When you account for the unowned but associated digital elements – including those owned by affiliated third parties, associated with current and former employees, and created fraudulently– manual tracking becomes untenable.”1

 

As organisations embrace digital channels to enhance products, promote business, and extend customer and employee engagement, their digital presence and attack surface grows. This attack surface is comprised of known, unknown, unsanctioned, poorly maintained, and lost internet-facing assets that may contain vulnerabilities susceptible to attack by external threat actors. Given mounting breach, reputation, and privacy compliance risks, security teams must have the ability to map, inventory, and monitor business-relevant assets outside the firewall. Digital Footprint Snapshot offers a convenient and economical starting point to understand an organisation’s digital footprint and facilitate means to improve its security posture.

“RiskIQ Digital Footprint allows organisations to more effectively discover, map, and monitor their internet-facing digital assets that may be susceptible to exploitation or compromise. Now with the release of Snapshot, enterprises can obtain an on-demand report to account for often hidden and vulnerable digital assets, and use this report data to enrich their integrated risk management program,” said Steve Ginty, senior product manager at RiskIQ.

 

RiskIQ Digital Footprint Snapshot allows any enterprise to readily discover and inventory external web assets and infrastructure across diverse domains, IPs, hosting providers, service providers, and affiliates that are connected to an organisation. Snapshot leverages RiskIQ’s continuous internet reconnaissance, vast internet data sets, and advanced analytics to deliver an interactive Snapshot report comprised of a filterable graph and inventory details of connected, internet-facing assets.

Threat defenders, such as those who manage vulnerability assessment and penetration testing programs, can interact with visual aids and insights to uncover and account for external assets and pinpoint potential security and compliance exposures that require attention.

The online Snapshot report advantages are:

 

  • On-demand – Extensive, active internet reconnaissance capabilities allow RiskIQ to package cost-effective, point-in-time external asset intelligence reports for all organisations
  • Automated – Automatically generates a list of external assets that are connected to an organisation, derived from keystone, owned assets and RiskIQ’s observed internet data sets and advanced algorithms
  • Extensive – Drill down into assets and see details like IP address, hosts, ownership information, and server type, as well as components and frameworks running on the asset
  • Actionable – Online report can be shared internally and allows for external asset data export via CSV into popular vulnerability, GRC, and asset management solutions

 

Availability and Migration Path

RiskIQ Digital Footprint Snapshot is available today. Through RiskIQ Digital Footprint Community Edition, users can readily see a preliminary external asset map and inventory at no charge. RiskIQ Digital Footprint Snapshot, point-in-time digital footprint intelligence, can be purchased as a single, one-off report starting at $6,250 or a set of four scheduled, quarterly reports starting at $20,000. Users can upgrade to RiskIQ Digital Footprint Premium Edition to gain a full, curated inventory that is continuously updated and actively detailed to identify new assets and possible component vulnerabilities (CVEs). RiskIQ Digital Footprint Enterprise Edition offers active monitoring of selected assets to alert on changes to assets or indications of component compromise, such as phishing or malware.

Get a demonstration of RiskIQ Digital Footprint and RiskIQ Digital Footprint Snapshot at Black Hat USA 2017 booth #1454 and at SANSFIRE 2017.

Irish companies exposing themselves to huge GDPR fines. #GDPR #Data AMI

AMI carried out the survey to find out how companies are dealing with end-of-life IT equipment, and whether or not they are taking the right steps to dispose of this equipment in a secure manner. The results reveal an interesting contradiction between companies spending thousands on network security, etc., yet exposing themselves to the risk of data breach at the end of life stage by failing to ensure that data is wiped properly.

AMI’s survey found that even companies that use third-party IT retirement services are failing to take the necessary precautions; one-third don’t get formal confirmation that their data has been completely erased. This, in turn, exposes them huge fines under GDPR regulation which comes into force on MAY 25TH 2018, so if you have not marked this date yet,now would be a good time..

In their press release….

–        AMI survey finds that 32% of companies that use third-party IT retirement companies don’t get formal confirmation that their data has been completely erased

–        25% of companies leave end-of-life IT assets on premise for more than one year

–        47% claim to manage specialist data-destruction process themselves

–        77% of companies say they would be seriously affected by data theft from old equipment, with 8% saying they would go out of business

The survey reveals that many Irish companies have overlooked the risk posed by failing to properly dispose of end-of-life IT assets. Some 47% of those surveyed stated that they manage data-destruction themselves and wipe or physically destroy data on site. As well as this, a quarter of respondents said that end-of-life IT assets remain on their premises for more than one year, highlighting that many organisations do not have established processes in place for managing the disposal of old IT equipment.

Despite these practices, the majority of organisations accept that the consequences of data theft from a retired device would be very grave, with 77% of those surveyed stating that it would have a serious effect on their company. Of those companies, 8% believe that their company would be forced to cease trading as a result.

Of those organisations that do have established processes for handling end-of-life assets, just over half (52%) send retired assets to a third-party specialist. A further 43% donate the equipment to employees, schools or charities.

For this reason, it’s clear why 71% of respondents say that security of data disposal is their most important consideration when it comes to choosing a means of disposal for data-bearing devices.

GDPR will introduce more stringent guidelines around where data flows and how it is processed. In the event of a data breach or compromise, companies who are unable to account for the whereabouts of their data could face fines of up to 4% of global turnover or €20 million, depending on which is greater. This will require companies to closely review supplier processes and policies to safeguard their interests. However, according to the survey results, 39% of those who work with a third-party IT retirement provider never audit the provider’s security processes.

The survey also found that despite the significant value of old IT equipment, 70% of businesses say that they don’t recover any value when retiring old assets. More than half of these (37%) would consider it in the future.

 

Philip McMichael, managing director, AMI, said: “It is extremely clear from the results of this survey that Irish organisations are leaving themselves vulnerable at the end-of-life stage by failing to securely manage the retirement of their old IT assets. Companies need to establish processes for disposing of this equipment and dramatically reduce the amount of time that it spends in storage, as this increases the risk of data going missing. It also devalues the equipment, so it’s in companies’ own interest to manage this process effectively.

It’s interesting to see that so many companies claim to manage and carry out data destruction themselves as this is a specialist security process that requires advanced tools to ensure that data-bearing equipment is erased to the most stringent global standards. Unless companies have trained specialists in place using the correct software and carrying out data erasures, they should reassess their ability to carry out this process themselves and align themselves with a specialist IT retirement provider.

Those that do work with IT retirement companies need to ensure that they receive formal confirmation that their data has been destroyed, as organisations that are happy to hand over data-bearing devices without a certification process in place are putting themselves at real risk of a data breach.

Companies that work with an IT retirement specialist can benefit from the creation of a new revenue stream that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as upgrading IT equipment or even charitable donation. However, the primary focus for Irish organisations now has to be plugging the security gap stemming from current and past failings to securely tackle IT retirement.”

In an Evil Internet Minute, £656,393 is Lost to Cybercrime, Reveals RiskIQ

With cybercriminals costing the global economy £345 billion last year alone, Digital threat management leader RiskIQ has examined the growing volume of malicious activity on the Internet to reveal the inaugural ‘Evil Internet Minute’. In a single evil internet minute, close to £656,393 is lost to cybercrime and 1,080 people fall victim. Despite businesses’ best efforts to guard against external cyber threats, spending up to £109,942 in 60 seconds, bad actors continue to proliferate online.

Colin Verrall, VP EMEA, RiskIQ comments, “As the Internet and its community continues to grow at pace, some people have been trying to make the vast numbers associated with it more accessible by framing them in the context of an ‘Internet Minute’. As the same growth applies to cybercrime, similarly, we have framed malicious Internet activity, leveraging the latest research as well as our own intelligence to define the darker happenings across the web in 60 seconds.”

The threats are complex with tactics ranging from malware to phishing, and intentions including monetary gain, inflicting large scale reputational damage or perhaps even to entertain. Cyber criminals continue to find success deploying tactics from 818 pieces of unique malware, 1214 ransomware attacks and over 100,000 phishing emails in just one evil internet minute.

RiskIQ’s research has also uncovered additional malicious activity, ranging from blacklisted mobile apps to malvertising:

  • New blacklisted mobile apps: 0.3 per minute
  • New phishing pages: 100 per minute
  • Malvertising: 14.5 incidents per minute
  • Pirate content: 4,300 people globally exposed to malware from content theft sites per minute

Colin Verrall, VP EMEA, RiskIQ comments, “Sophisticated cyber criminals continue to expand their digital armoury, lurking behind more online activity than we might expect. Websites, emails, mobile apps, online videos or even digital advertisements; all have become regular methods of entry for malicious online activity. The digital footprint of a business is always larger than perceived and with such happenings, control is often relinquished. It is crucial then for organisations to be aware of their entire digital footprint and make it a priority to close any critical security gaps. It is only way to adequately secure a business, its employees and customers.”

 

Learn to Code on the ASUS Tinker Board with FUZE Studio #Coding #ASUS

Hot on the heels of their recent FUZE Studio for Nintendo Switch announcement, FUZE Technologies Ltd are extremely proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with ASUSTeK.

 

Launched in 2013, FUZE Technologies set out with one goal – to make coding as easy and accessible as possible for everyone. Since then, the FUZE team has achieved great success in teaching young people how to code using the FUZE personal computer and their accessible, easy to use programming language FUZE Studio.

 

FUZE is now proud to announce two new models to their FUZE Workstation range powered by the recently announced ASUS Tinker Board.Additionally the ‘powered by’ ASUS Tinker Board editions have replaced the Raspberry Pi versions of the FUZE Workshop units used across the
country in schools and STEM events.Matt Stewart, ASUS Product Manager commented “ASUS recognise that learning to code is incredibly valuable; we’re really excited to be working with FUZE and bringing the ASUS Tinker Board into UK schools.”

The new units are, the FUZE-TB-R priced at £249.99 including VAT. It comes complete and ready torun out of the box. Included is the FUZE Special Edition case & keyboard, ASUS Tinker Board, FUZE IO Board with built in analog, 16GB boot SD card, the FUZE Component pack, solderless electronics breadboard, mouse and mouse mat, 250 page reference guide (PDF), worksheets (PDF) and the ever popular USB Robot Arm kit.

 

 

About the ASUS Tinker Board: The ASUS Tinker Board is a Single Board Computer (SBC) in an ultra-small form factor that offers class-leading performance while leveraging outstanding mechanical compatibility. The Tinker Board offers makers, IoT enthusiasts, hobbyists, PC DIY enthusiasts and others a reliable and extremely capable platform for building and tinkering their ideas into reality.

Specifications:
CPU Rockchip Quad-Core RK3288 processor
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR3
Graphic Integrated Graphics Processor ARM® Mali™-T764 GPU*1
Storage Micro SD(TF) card slot
LAN RTL GB LAN, Wireless Data Network, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth V4.0 + EDR
Audio RTL ALC4040 CODEC
USB Ports 4 x USB 2.0
Internal I/O 1 x 40-pin header(GPIO, SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, 5V, 3.3V, GND, S/PDIF, DSI, CSI

The second unit is the FUZE-TB-D priced at £149.99 including VAT. Included is the FUZE Special
Edition case & keyboard, ASUS Tinker Board, FUZE IO Board with built in analog, 16GB boot SD card, solderless electronics breadboard, reference guide (PDF) and worksheets (PDF).

 

“The ASUS Tinker Board perfectly complements the FUZE’s existing design and dramatically improves performance. Running FUZE it’s roughly twice as fast as the Raspberry Pi editions and has far superior audio hardware and RAM capacity.
The Tinker Board enhances the FUZE’s learning capabilities, and partnered with FUZE Studio, provides the ideal environment to learn and ‘tinker’ with coding, gaming, audio, electronics, robotics and more.”
Stated Jon Silvera, CEO of FUZE Technologies Ltd.

A multi-award winning and highly accessible coding workstation, the FUZE is intended for students of all ages and also for teachers and parents. Anyone learning to code on the FUZE will find out that real, text based coding is not as complicated as they may have thought. FUZE’s unique method ensures children as young as six can learn to code using a real text based language, setting them up to eventually move onto more complex languages such as Python and Java.
It requires no previous experience, and is a self-contained coding and electronics workstation that will keep kids, and adults, motivated and wanting to learn more.

FUZE Studio is the perfect stepping stone between visual coding simulators currently usedin most primary schools and realworldlanguages like Python, Java and C++/# etc. FUZE Studio comes
with everything you need to learn to code in one app. Users can
code their own games and share the experience with friends and family. Tutorials are included, as is a 250 page reference guide.
One reason for FUZE’s success in educating young people to code is the wealth of support content included and to download. Worksheets, projects and a very comprehensive reference guide are all
included and more are being added all the time.

For more information on FUZE  see www.fuze.co.uk

 

Survey reveals businesses adopting smart-tech solutions for property security and surveillance

SME users include farms, hotels, health surgeries, embassies and even a castle

A recent survey of UK customers by Blink, a leading provider of affordable, wire-free HD home security systems reveals that a high percentage of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are using smart-tech systems to monitor and protect their properties. We here also use such gadjets and find them very usefull and easy to use with little or no tech know how to set such equiment up we can see why these systems are becoming popular.. See our BLINK REVIEW

95 SMEs survey respondents use Blink camera systems to monitor their businesses. This is evidence of an emerging trend of SMEs who are shunning traditionally more expensive and complex business property security measures such as hard-wired, monitored CCTV systems, alarm systems and manned security patrols.

All types of SMEs turning to smart-tech security solutions

The highest proportion of SME respondents (30%) described themselves as “small tech businesses”, followed by “small offices” (17%) and “retail outlets” (12%). SMEs who listed their organisation types as “other” (28%) disclosed what type of business they operate, the range includes: embassies, farms, doctor and dental surgeries, storage facilities, children’s nurseries, hotels, construction sites, landlords, catteries, elderly care homes, police dog kennels and even a castle, all of which are using Blink systems to help secure their business properties.

The average size of the organisation is typically 1 to 5 employees (45%) followed by sole proprietors (28%) and SMEs who have more than 10 employees (20%).

Remote surveillance rated primary reason for purchase

SME respondents rated “keeping an eye on the business while I’m not there” (73%) as the primary reason for having a Blink system at their organisation, followed in second place by “protecting my property from burglary and vandalism” (41%).

Dave Coles, Information Manager, Severndroog Castle elaborated on the use of the Blink technology at the castle: “We rely on technology to underpin and augment the work of our mainly volunteer staff. Our Blink cameras are helping us monitor footfall and provide out of hours security.”

David Laubner, Head of Digital Marketing and eCommerce for Blink, comments: “The benefit to small business owners of using Blink cameras to protect their properties is that they are alerted immediately to any unusual activity via their smartphone. Using Blink in isolation or with other security measures gives SMEs owners peace of mind.

 

View infographic of survey findings: https://blinkforhome.co.uk/pages/uk-sme-survey-infographic