SOUL X-SHOCK – True Wireless In-Ears for more Safety During Work-Out in the Dark

According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, about 40 percent of all crashes involving pedestrians occur at intersections, and more than half of all fatal pedestrian crashes occur at night, between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight.

Hence, SOUL Electronics, a global leader in consumer audio designed for the active and fitness-oriented lifestyle now presents the new X-SHOCK Transparent Edition: truly wireless, sport earphones designed and built with a runner’s safety in mind. SOUL’s X-SHOCK Transparent Edition earphones boast bright LED lights, keeping them safe from traffic at all hours of the night.

X-SHOCK Transparent Edition Earphone Features:

  • Sleek transparent case with bright LED light for night-time jogging
  • 3,000 mAH Power bank provides 18 additional charges, up to 60 hours of playtime and features a USB-port to charge smartphones once fully
  • Superior connectivity with Bluetooth 4.2 and a gold-plated antenna that minimizes interference
  • Sweat and rain-proof with iPX5 rating, allowing for water submersion up to 16 feet and for 30 minutes
  • Auto-on and instant pairing when placing earbuds into the ear
  • Compatible with Siri and Google Assistant for added convenience on-the-go
  • Tight seal to isolate music for a bass boost and block out ambient background noises

The X-SHOCK Transparent Edition are available now through Indiegogo and on www.soulelectronics.com for $149.

“Who Owns Who In The Internet World.” #Infographic. #web #internet

GUEST POST by Karthik Reddy, It is a common thing for one big company to own several other large companies. As a matter of fact, there are about a dozen companies that own all the other ones. Did you know that only a while ago (December 2017), Apple acquired Shazam for $400 million? Or that Facebook owns both Instagram and WhatsApp, and that Microsoft bought LinkedIn, Skype, MSN, and Bing?

Tech companies are well known for being addicted to their mergers and acquisitions. Whether it’s Amazon buying up ecommerce companies or https://www.16best.net/expedia/ famous for its discount codes and cheap hotel bookings, internet based companies are trying to dominate their respective industries and become the most successful companies they can be. 2017 was a year full of important tech mergers, so let’s take a look at some of the substantial ones.
1. Amazon
In June 2017, Amazon sealed the deal to buy Whole Foods Market for an eye-watering $13.7 billion, a huge acquisition which catapulted the ecommerce giant into physical stores and fulfilled Jeff Bezos’ long term ambition of Amazon being able to sell more grocery products.
2. Cisco
Cisco bought AppDynamics, one of its all time biggest acquisitions. This acquisition was all about helping companies make sense of big data in their companies quickly. As data becomes a hugely important part of our daily lives, it appears that Cisco hope to capitalize on the need for companies to understand and interpret it.
AppDynamics can help its customers translate business data into easy to digest analytics and insights. AppDynamics itself had a year full of growth, expanding by over 50%.
Cisco also bought Viptela for $610 million. Viptela is a developer of software defined networking technology widely used by leading telecom carriers such as Verizon. With these two acquisitions, Cisco made it clear that the company is seriously thinking about acquiring software related companies as business slowly but surely moves into the digital realm.
3. Palo Alto Networks
In February 2017, it bought LightCyber for a princely sum of $105 million. The LightCyber technologies work to bring automation and machine learning to cybersecurity and have a vision of developing technologies, which can identify sophisticated attacks that often go undetected. This was a strategic buy by the Palo Alto company and boosts its technology portfolio massively. In 2014, it acquired Cyvera and CirroSecure in 2015 to add further security capabilities for its SaaS application. Want to learn more about which tech companies own other tech companies? Check out our infographic below, you might just find yourself very surprised! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infographic: Real Time Data Changing the Construction Industry. #data #construction #tech

With Data now a key factor in business realtime data is now something that changes everything at a glance and most importantly one of these is costs, Project costs are normally set out prior build but do most stick to it or go over budget be it by a small amount or large, In Ireland we all know the answer to that but there is alot more than you might think where data is relevant to construction and how going mobile and using tech can assist, check out this beautiful infographic sent over to us from Jasmine Kemp at APE mobile

Review – Urbanista Milan Fluffy Cloud earphons with ANC #Urbanistalife #Earphones

The earphones design looks trendy and fashionable, with a flexible design to bend around as required. The most striking feature on this headset in the weight at 34g. they are balanced in a way, it’s easy to forget you are wearing them. The Packaging looks great with all the features you would expect in a high-end earphone including ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) feature.

 

Features:

  • Bluetooth: 4.2
  • Speaker size: φ10mm
  • Sensitivity: 99±3dB
  • Impedance: 16Ω±15%
  • Frequency range: 20Hz-20kHz +1/-3dB
  • Hands-free with microphone and volume control
  • Stand-by time: 700h
  • Play time: 15h (ANC off, BT on) 7h (ANC on, BT on)
  • Charging: Micro USB, about 2,5h charging time
  • Compatible with Android, iOS and Windows
  • Weight: 34 g
  • Weight including packaging: 240 g
  • Package size: 160x42x193mm

 The Brand:

Urbanista was founded in Stockholm, 2010. Their Specialties include product development, audio, brand development, Urban lifestyle, earphones, headphones, music, and Lifestyle.  Urbanista have distribution covering over 80 markets. Their products are sold by over 10 000 retailers around the globe, like Harrods, Selfridges, Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters amongst others. This is a brand you can have confidence in.

 Warranty:

Urbanista one-year limited warranty

 

ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) feature:

This feature when switch on (by a press of a button.)  is indicated by a green light. The battery life is nearly halved when this feature is turned on. The. ANC filters external surrounding sounds resulting in a high-quality audio without the hum of background noise. The only fault I have with this feature is, “I would have set this as the default setting to on’’ the audio quality removing most external noise (up to 25 dB) is a feature when used for a few hours is very hard to go back to and use the earphones without this feature turned on. When the ANC is off they work as most earphones do, but why have an amazing feature defaulted to off. With the ANC off, you get better battery life, but at 7 hours playtime on, this would work for most people use. The ANC when in use required a comparison with other earphones to show the real difference for real music lovers. This is an impressive feature on these earphones.

 

Setup & Use:

The setup is standard, connect to Bluetooth as standard on a phone (compatible with Android, iOS & Windows), There is left & right-side earphones. The earphones built in microphone can take and make calls. The call quality for both was excellent via an android phone. The weight of the earphones which are not the lightest used but balanced in such a way they become forgotten when wearing. The material is flexible allowing the earphones to be folded away as required, this is great when used indoors or outdoors.

 

The Urbanista Milan comes with a choice of earphone connectors allowing a variety of sizes used. The audio quality from a variety of sources gave a reduced sensitivity to external electrical noise, this was noticeable when used the ANC features.  The control buttons were easy to use, whether changing the volume or asking Siri questions. The battery life is excellent even when using the ANC feature. The Urbanista Milan is a high-end product, the active noise cancelling technology is a must when out and about. They are stylish, practical, hit a few of the right notes, the earphones are exceptionally comfortable to wear for long periods at a time. The Urbanista Milan Fluffy Cloud is a delight to use, practical & quality.

BUY HERE 

Review – The Lomo’Instant Square camera. #camera #photography #Lomography #tech

The first impression is the retro look and feel of the unit with its foldable bellows design, with a lot of the features you would expect on a traditional camera. WOW. The analogue takes Instax Square Film. The unit folds up when not in use and is the first Analogue dual format glass-lens automatic instant camera. This camera caught the attention of the younger generation which are used to everything now!

 

Package includes:

  • Lomo’Instant Square Camera Black
  • Remote control shutter release
  • Four colour Gel Flash Filters
  • Paper frames to display your instant photos
  • Magnet stickers to display your instant photos
  • Glue dots to stick your instant pictures
  • Photo clips to build structures out of your instant snaps

 

Features:

  • Square Format
    Works with Fujifilm Instax Square Film to give you a perfectly balanced frame with a scale of 1:1 — the iconic format that made instant photography what it is today. It dares you to make your subject the centre of the universe, and leaves plenty of space for creative composition.
  • Auto Mode
    Automatically adjusts shutter speed, aperture and flash output; and makes sure that your shots are perfectly exposed — no matter where you’re exploring or what you’re discovering.
  • Foldable Bellows Design
    Looks super cool and lets you reduce the Lomo’Instant Square to a third of its size.
  • Self-Timer
    Gives you time to run, jump, grab your best friend and strike a pose.
  • Remote Control Shutter Release
    Snaps your shutter from afar so that you can focus on diving into the good madness.
  • Multiple Exposure Mode
    Lets you layer up the loco by exposing one frame as many times as you like.
  • Long Exposure Mode
    Keeps your shutter open for as long as 30 seconds so that you can unleash your creativity in crazy light paintings.
  • Exposure Compensation:
    Lightens or darkens your frame so that you can be master of your own destiny.
  • Built-In Flash & Flash Off Mode
    Lets you decide just how much light you want to shine on your shenanigans.
  • Colour Gel Flash Filters
    Slide over your flash to tint your squares a whole new colour — everything you need to ride the rainbow!
  • Extras
    Photo clips, photo stands, glue dots and magnet stickers to display your super square frames.
  • Shooting Tip Cards
    25 ways to keep the inspiration rolling. Give them a try and then see what else you can come up with!

 

Accessories:

These are the only minor gripes with this camera. The camera comes with no batteries for the remote  CR2025 (3V) like your car key fob battery, or the main unit which requires 2 x CR2 batteries (6V), these are not standard batteries and not available in local supermarkets. The accessories supplied, remote & filters have the potential to get lost as the camera is not supplied with a carry case or strap. These would be the first recommendation to consider a case and strap to protect the camera and avoid the rain.

 

Observations of uses:

The Lomo’Instant Square is more about learning to take good quality well planned photos. The kit supplied came with an instruction book which allows you to read the manual & cross reference the number to the camera. There are many instruction manuals supplied with products which are never read. This manual should be read including the tips to get the most out of the camera. The Learn instant cards supplied give you the option to look at a photo and use the same setting as used by the professional. This is a great option to learn new techniques for photos.

The accessories filters are supplied gives a new dimension to the photo but after trail and error, these work best in a dark environment. The zoom option, normal, infinity closeup works, but you can’t tell from the viewfinder the settings, rather look at the setting on the front. The flash can be turned off & on as required (this is not available in many budget instant cameras)

The light on the side of the camera gave a clear visually indication how much paper was left which is handy to be aware of when you need to change paper. The paper comes in packs of 10 sheets.  Printing to develop the picture can take 10 / 15 minutes to develop, this is a great time to, watch and see how the photo is coming out.

There is a variety of features which are handy and unexpected on a retro style unit, the remote control, auto power off after 5 minutes use, tripod option, flash option and timer option.

 

The 25 tips for taking photo are great, you look at a picture on a card, if taking a similar picture, this advised what setting are required to get maximum results. This is a great way to learn & experiment with the camera. The innovation with the option to stick all the photo together with a plastic frame gave an enchanting collage collection.

 

Photo quality:

The quality of the photo does not do justice to them from the attached photos taken with a digital camera. The photos come out, a fades colour in a positive way. They stand out from your traditional photo.

 

Evaluation:

The use of this camera encapsulates the priorities of the artistic nature of the end image art. This has the flamboyance over the precedence of practicality and the attention to the details often forgotten by the trend to snap everything inside without viewing the full pictures. The Nostalgic style gave the impression of minimum functionality but was packed with a punch of abundant features.

This is not a child toy, expensive and takes a knack / hang of to get used to it, there is no speed photo as done with your smart phone rather the photo takes consideration and an eye for ascetic appreciation of the images.  The unit while not inexpensive would not be the main decision-making choice for the camera while the paper adds additional cost to the use on the camera.

There is ample artistic features, modes, and controls for practical use. This is a feature rich camera, analogue compact camera with a nostalgic feel that has a wow factor with people asking you about it. The retro style will not suite all, but if you’re into something different with a keen eye for photography this will allow you to catch the mood and visual characteristics, and your friends imagination.

 

https://shop.lomography.com/en/cameras/lomo-instant-square-camera/lomo-instant-square-camera-black      €199.00

Magician turned entrepreneur launches new online platform for planning children’s parties.

PartyWizz is the new online platform designed to cater to all parents’ and event organisers’ needs when planning children’s parties and booking entertainment.

The online booking-platform is the first of its kind on the market and allows the customer to choose from a variety of suitable party entertainers based on theme, location, price, and real-time availability. Having spent 20 years working in the marketing industry and developing a successful advertising business in Dubai, founder Hamish Urquhart decided to return to his passion – magic and entertainment.

Hamish Urquhart

From his first-hand experience working in the industry, he recognised a gap in the market for a tool for easily booking entertainment and bringing party planning into the 21st century.

Commenting on the launch of his new business, Hamish said: “PartyWizz has been the perfect outlet to combine my passion for entertainment with my marketing and business development skills.

“From working as an entertainer, I saw first-hand the pressure parents were under in organising parties, and I knew there had to be a way to make the process much simpler. I was hugely inspired by what was happening in the on-demand economy with the likes of Uber, Airbnb and homegrown Hassle – creating market place solutions for problems.”

 

Research phase

Research conducted by PartyWizz during the development stages of the platform found that the average spend per party was between €350 – €400, with many key factors contributing to this spend for parents, including:

  • The guilt of not spending enough time with their children;
  • Lack of time for planning and;
  • The pressure of coming up with original ideas.

Commenting on the research findings, Hamish said: “From the hundreds of parents we engaged with in the development of the platform, the overwhelming feedback was that parents do not have enough time and are under pressure juggling multiple demands. My hope is that by bringing all elements of party planning together on one platform, PartyWizz will alleviate the stress and pressure from children’s party-planning and take party-planning into the 21st century.”

The site enables the user to easily organise key areas of a party: entertainers can be reviewed and booked; add-ons such as themed party bags, decorations can be ordered in the same transaction; and all of the entertainers have been hand-picked to give parents maximum peace of mind.

PartyWizz is live now: www.partywizz.com.

Talk and text with the Nokia 106 for €14.99 with Tesco Mobile. #Nokia

Over the last few months and perhaps more smartphones have been the talk of the day when it comes to safety with our kids, Internet access is available on many cheap phones today but this Nokia 106 keeps it simple and would be an ideal way to keep in touch with family or your younger kids and it has no internet access at all.

Some might find this a bit cruel but lets be honest its safe and simple and there is a radio built in too and has some games, its plenty for those younger children who insist on having a mobile without the frills.

  • Up to 35 days’ standby time
  • 1.8” colour screen, distinctive Nokia design
  • Classic dust- & splash-proof keymat
  • FM radio (headset required) & Pre-loaded games
  • Flashlight

BUY HERE 

 

Review – The Sudio Tre wireless earphones. #tech #sudio #sudiosweden #earphones

This is our second item from the folks at Sudio Sweden and the previous cans we checked out are still going strong and popular here with family and friends testing them out they are really comfortable and have agreat punch from them.

See our Sudio Regent Headphones review

Next up is the Sudio Tre earphones which come in an array of colours and offer 9 hours playback with 10 days standby time and has a 15 metre range so all in all enough for the average user,not only that you get a leather carry pouch to keep the goods intact which is a nice extra along with the wing tips.

Presentation again is great here as was before which comes in a nice neat box with detailed information on the back,a magnetic lock on the box and presented well on opening,this I like, Presentation for me is a kep factor on a product and mostly works for potential buyers,the pass on this with flying colours.

Fit and comfort – Not being a huge fans of earphones have come to like them more over the last year these fit rather well and stay put with the correct wing tips installed which is a simple process to swap out if they don’t suit your ears, They stayed in whilst walking or jogging and out and about and after a few minutes they felt like they were not there which was good, they can rest around your neck when not in use and are counterbalanced by a block of plastic matching the one with all the controls.

Controls – These are simple and effective and good looking with their gold accent. Given the buttons are flush with the unit itself they are easy to find after a few minutes use and work well though those with big fingers may take a bit longer to navigate blindly but overall they are responsive and do what they are supposed to do which is what you would expect like skipping tracks play,pause and pairing,on/off. Also we have the micro usb charge port here which allows a quick charge or full charge which takes some 120 minutes.

DRIVER

  • Type: 15,2 mm dynamic speaker
  • Sensitivity: 103 ± 3dB SPL @ 1 kHz 178mV
  • Impedance: 32 Ohm ± 15% @ 1kHz
  • Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz

GET A 15% DISCOUNT WITH THE CODE “TECHBUZZIRELAND15” AT THE TILL

Pairing – It is simple as expected the centre button on the control panel is what you use to pair to your chosen device. There is no indicator on the earphones themselves but a little indicator light which turns blue when connected and red when powered on. Again there is no charge level indicator here but when connected to a device you do get your charge status.

Sound – Sound is actually better than I would have thought for earphones with thin wing tips due to noise but the is actually great overall knocking out all lows,mids and highs quite well with a decent bass level which can also adjust from your phone if you are not happy,at the standard setting alone from my phone the sound was near perfect and loud which is something I prefer,by no means are these low sounding earphones but great quality overall I was impressed.

Build Quality – These are built well and are ideal for the active person be it any sport with nice rubber texture throughout and will last some time and easily take plenty of knocks,the main cable is also flat which takes away the worries of getting knots which is traditional with rounded cable and overall the package is small and not to forget they come with a leather pouch to boot for travel and storage purposes. The gold buttons complement the cappings at the end of earphone too and give them a nice clean look which is similar to the Regent and all complements each other well.

Overall Thoughts – I was expecting something good here from Sudio having really liked their Regent headphones and I got what i expected overall,with the great sound build quality and looks they are ideal for most people but ideal for active folk.

SPECS

  • Housing: Composite, Aluminum
  • Finish: High polished metal parts
  • Model: Earbud, Bluetooth 4.1
  • Weight: 35 g
  • Range: 15 meters
  • Battery time: 9 hours (active), 10 days (standby)
  • Charging time: 10 minutes (quick), 120 minutes (full)
  • Microphone: Built-in mic

BUY HERE

AMI returns €2 million to clients. #AMI #PC #LAPTOPS #GDPR #DATA

Many Irish companies are unaware of the potential new revenue stream that old IT equipment represents. AMI is working with clients to help them to uncover the value of their old PCs and process them securely to avoid the risk of data leaks. The company resold 23,324 PCs and laptops in 2017, and securely processed 371,639 data-bearing items in total.

AMI, Ireland’s leading secure IT retirement company, today announces that it returned €2 million to its clients in 2017. The funds were generated through the recycling, refurbishment and resale of data-bearing items, including 23,324 PCs and laptops, collected from AMI’s clients as part of their IT retirement process.

Pictured at the announcement that AMI has returned €2 million to its clients in 2017 are Philip McMichael; managing director and Faye Thomas; business manager.

Prior to reselling equipment to its global network of 350 bulk buyers, AMI uses advanced equipment and processes to ensure that data-bearing equipment is erased to the most stringent global standards. Last year the company data sanitised 371,639 data-bearing items, destroying data from equipment using its Blancco data erasure software.

AMI’s client-base includes one quarter of Ireland’s 200 largest IT user organisations, including data centres, banks, blue-chip corporations and government departments. The company specialises in providing secure IT retirement services that can help its customers to generate revenue back from the safe disposal of their old IT assets. However, it has noted that many organisations are unaware of the potential revenue stream that used IT equipment represents.

Pictured at the announcement that AMI has returned €2 million to its clients in 2017 is Philip McMichael; managing director, AMI.

Philip McMichael, managing director, AMI, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to return €2 million to our clients in 2017, and we hope to improve on this figure again in 2018. Irish companies are gradually awakening to the importance of ensuring that their old IT equipment is correctly retired at the end-of-life stage, to minimise the risk of a potentially serious and harmful data breach.

“As well as minimising the risk of a data breach, working with a secure IT retirement provider like AMI has another benefit: it enables us to provide companies with the highest return on their retired assets. Organisations are beginning to realise that correct handling of old IT equipment at the point of retirement can not only help to safeguard their reputation, but it can also generate a lucrative revenue stream for the business.”

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is also set to have a significant impact on how Irish companies approach the IT retirement process.

Philip McMichael said: “Awareness of the scale of potential fines under GDPR is starting to grow among organisations, and board members are asking questions of their IT teams about how they manage the IT retirement process. Once they learn that there is a monetary value in properly managed IT retirement they will make this investment in their future, and uncover the hidden value in their old PCs and laptops.”

Photo credits – Donal McCann