The Ludos Ultra earphones are their next product after the Clamor that comes with much improvement in looks style and sound too and at a price that is super affordable if you are in the market for a new pair of earphones, These are a simple plug and play with an inline control that offers call control, Volume and play and pause and that is it. Keeping it simple as you do with most wired headphones there is a market out there for them still and the headphone jack is not done yet by any means.
These have got magnetic ends too so they will not dance all over the place when not in use and you can also avail of the carry bag included in the nice case they come in which is a nice presentation for the price,there is no pairing or any of that malarkey going on here either you just pop them in your headphone jack if you have one and if not they work perfectly fine with an adaptor too.
Sound is where it matters though and these really sound good with a bright crisp clean punchy performance with a perfect balance across the board, They do have an element of bass however nothing overlaps with sound nothing stands out over the other with all genres of music and good highs lows and mids and separation like I said these are a simple plug and play with better materials this time around and give decent passive isolation too when plugged in the the sponge memory foam similar to comply foam tips so this overall gives a good feel and sound to your music experience.
You often see earphones in local euro shops and petrol stations now costing up to 20 euros and more and you may skip them as they are total rubbish it is a safe bet to check these out rather than take a risk on a shoddy pair you will find in the mentioned outlets above they are a common scene along with true wireless and generally trash.
With a saturated market today in mobile we have never had a better choice when it comes to picking up a smartphone at any price-point. All this is well and good but when it comes to smartphones for the older generation we have problems. The older generation like things simple and with the majority of today’s phones they are convoluted in my opinion leaving it a difficult task for the older generation to find their way through the menus and so on..
Doro would be a brand most people are familiar with and recently Nokia have released some devices that aim to either detox the overuse of phones or give older people a chance to get familiar with feature phones emporia does this too and is dedicated to give these people an option in many form factors but with ease of use.
I feel that more and more of the older generation want to get into the connected world though as mentioned above the typical smartphone is just to complicated for them and one look at one and they put it down this is where this company differs and will offer people to migrate to a smartphone with ease and there is several levels to pick from which then enables the user to move up a gear or two once they become familiar and simplicity is a key factor here for that to serve its purpose. Today we take a first look and walk through the UI on this device and its features and we will be testing it out over the coming weeks so feel free to show your family or friends this new entrant to the Irish market and if you have any questions feel free to ask as always and we will gladly answer.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Plantronics Calisto is a nice compact portable speakerphone that can be used in more than one capacity, Mainly aimed at the the office type situation this can also be used in a personal capacity at home too or even on travel as it is small,durable and portable. With the option to connect with USB A cable or 3.5 mm you are not limited but there is no bluetooth option here which would have been nice but it is not a huge caveat given most people today prefer the bluetooth connection method but think of the battery life your saving.
This cicrular speaker is not the loudest one in the world I have tried but offers easy to use functions and give off a spatial surround sound so this is ideal for a smaller office environment rather than a large on or a desk with a few people sat around it for call and so on and if connected to your PC it will offer a better listening experience for everyone in the vicinity of it.
Call quality is good and you have the option to mute this and swap between profiles which are music and calls. You can charge the device via Micro USB or via your laptop or PC via the USB A cable. You can also connect this to your smartphone by the way which is a great idea and not tying you to one device.
Overall the quality is not bad at all and it does have some cool lights on one side similar to what we have seen like the Jabra 710 speak we checked out some time ago. When it comes to buttons there is not much to take in here with the volume control a call key and mute key it is simple to use. Check out the video review below for more..
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, 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.
