In case you may not have already guessed but we here at Goosed (that will take some getting used too) are big fans of everything tech and motorsports such as Formula 1 have always been a gateway into what tech we should expect to see in our cars in the future. Until now that is! Formula E is now here showcasing everything the electric engine could be and more.
While Formula E has been around for around four years already, in recent times the sport has gained a new following thanks to their mission of advancing electric vehicle technology and shape the cars of the future. It’s gained such a following in recent years there has even been discussions about Dublin getting its very own race, not bad considering TV3 already own the rights to broadcast the series.
So for all you car nuts out their that love a little bit of tech and gadgetry here is everything you need to know about Formula E:
What’s the difference between Formula E and Formula 1?
You would assume Formula 1 and Formula E are fairly similar…right? Well not exactly, although they come from the same family the two sports are very different. Not unlike an 11 a side vrs a 5 a side football game, while the basics are still the same certain rules can differ greatly.
Nowadays a Formula 1 car will use a hybrid engine, like a massively souped up Prius. Formula E however as the name suggests relies on fully electric vehicles like a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla. Oh and all of the races are held on the city streets instead of a racing track, because why the hell not.
Here’s a mad one for you, Formula E offers fans an interactive element with FANBOOST which allows fans to vote for their favourite driver through social media. Whichever driver wins this online poll receives a power boost they can use during the race at any time. Try that in F1 and see what someone like Hamilton does to the rest of the track. Anyway Formula E also allows fans to get involved in an e-race where they can test themselves versus the drivers true track time via a simulator. Having seen the hours Gary can put down on a driving game hes been banished from ever test running this, just in case.
So what the craic with the cars?
To put into perspective how seriously companies are taking this sport in order to push their full electric engine technologies all we need to do is see the list of teams competing in the series:
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Germany
DS Virgin Racing, UK
Panasonic Jaguar Racing, UK
Venturi Formula E Team, Monaco
DRAGON, USA
Renault e.dams, France
NIO Formula E Team, China
TECHEETAH, China
Mahindra Racing, India
Andretti Formula E, USA
Yup so that’s Jag, Virgin, Audi and Renault all onboard with the roster set to grow even further in the coming years.Nissan, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes will all be joining in the next couple of years. Fingers crossed we see a Tesla Formula E car in the near future, just to see Elon Musk and Richard Branson forced to sit in the same room.
Sorry I got sidetracked on that through but to be fair to these E cars it’s under the bonnet where they really come into their own. The standard Formula E car can hit around 140mph and can go from 0-60 in 3 seconds, which is really good for an electric engine. The cars have also doubled in speed in the last two years so it will be interesting to see just how far this tech can be pushed. To fuel these next generation sports cars each vehicle is charged by electricity, created using generators that run on a virtually emission free fuel – glycerine. Glycerine is a sweet, syrupy liquid obtained from animal fats and oils or by the fermentation of glucose. The fuel used for Formula E cars is so clean that a human can drink it. Probably wouldn’t recommend it but each to their own I guess.
How long would you charge an iPhone for? 3/4 hours maybe more? well due to this fuel and smart engine technology a Formula E car will only use around 180kW of energy the equivelant of 4 years of iPhone charging. That’s some serious juice these cars are running off.
So how does the race work?
Ok so first things first a Formula E race is much much shorter than their F1 cousins. The standard race time in this series is about an hour, so it won’t take most of your Sunday mornings away. Rather uniquely practice, qualifying and the E-Prix ( yup, that’s what they call it) all takes place on the same day. Which is nice because Formula 1 supporters can be glued to the action from Friday till Sunday afternoon.
Points are awarded to the top 10 racers as follows:
1st – 25pts
2nd – 18pts
3rd – 15pts
4th – 12pts
5th – 10pts
6th – 8pts
7th – 6pts
8th – 4pts
9th – 2pts
10th – 1pt
Additionally the driver with the fastest lap in the top 10 also earns an additional point.
Where can I watch?
You can watch Formula E races on TV 3 or on the Formula E Youtube Channel. If you like the look of this new age motorsport here is quick rundown of the rest of the seasons calendar. Here’s hoping Ireland can get a race soon, just so we can have a go on the simulator!
Mark Delaney, Managing Director for Dixons Carphone in Ireland, confirmed customers would have coverage until 6 April 2018 but that they will need to move off the network before that date. While Delaney also included that you can change your network at any of the 82 Carphone Warehouse stores around Ireland, you’ll also be able to interact directly with other networks. This is important as Carphone Warehouse don’t carry Tesco Mobile who offers some of the best SIM only deals. According to Google Trends, both Tesco Mobile and 48, yes they still exist, are the most searched for networks as people find out about the iD Mobile liquidation.
Can iD Customers Keep Their Phones?
Regulation 14 of the 2011 European Communities Regulations protect customers from networks making sudden changes to mobile contracts. Last year, you might remember the furore surrounding Three’s contract change which let the vast majority of customers leave their contract while keeping their handset. The same is not necessarily true for iD Mobile customers.
iD Mobile sell the phone and plan at the same time but under separate agreements. The benefit of this is flexible billing that customers can adjust over the lifetime of their contract. The phone is effectively bought on a separate hire purchase agreement.
This wasn’t outlined int he initial statement from Dixons Carphone, but I followed up and was told that while customers will no longer pay for mobile services like talk, text and data, “customers that have an outstanding balance on an equipment contract for a phone or mobile broadband device should note that the contract is not affected and therefore they will need to continue to make payments to iD Mobile until this outstanding balance is cleared”.
Initial reaction to this has been negative from customers according to both boards.ie and Google Trends, with some of the former outlining their plans to cease handset repayments. There has also been a sharp increase in people searching for ComReg suggesting many are looking at their options.
Can Customers Lose Their Numbers?
This is probably the biggest risk to customers right now. If you don’t move your number to another network before 6 April 2018, you will most likely lose your number as iD ceases to exist. Moving your number is pretty easy these days too and we’ve highlighted some top deals below.
Who Has The Best SIM Only Deals?
If you are one of the network’s forty thousand customers now looking for a new network, you’re spoilt for choice.
Three SIM Only Deals
Three are fast becoming Ireland’s most popular network, challenging the stranglehold on the market Vodafone has had for many years. Their SIM only plans are also great with their most popular bill pay plan coming in at €30 per month. This plan includes unlimited data, calls and texts and 3 months access to Deezer, a music streaming platform.
Three Offer For iD Mobile Customers
If you’re an iD Mobile customer, you’re absolutely laughing with Three. They’ve just released a special offer which gives you everything on that €30 per month plan but you’ll only pay €5 per month for the first 12 months. Being honest, this is an unprecedented offer and I think the networks are losing the run of themselves in the iD Mobile customer land grab. But who cares? Customers are certainly winning with this deal!
If you’re a prepay customer, they’ll also port you in and give you a bonus €120 credit, drip fed to your account over 12 months. Regardless of whether your bill pay or prepay, you’ll also benefit from access to 3Plus which gives priority tickets to events in the 3Arena. You can pick up this offer in any Carphone Warehouse store (not online), in Three stores around Ireland and the Three.ie website. It’s important to note that for bill pay customers, your discount will be applied from the second month on the network and will then continue for 12 months.
Tesco Mobile SIM Only Deals
For €25 per month, Tesco Mobile offers one of the best SIM only deals with 20GB of data and “unlimited” calls and texts which do come under a fair usage policy. Tesco also piggy back on the Three network as an MVNO, just like iD Mobile did so your coverage shouldn’t change too much; if anything it should improve slightly as it’s been rumoured Tesco pay for a slightly improved infrastructure.
48 SIM Only Deals
I was a little surprised to see 48 as one of the most popular searches to follow people searching for “iD Mobile liquidation” in Google. Now, I wasn’t surprised because of value or anything like that, but 48 does zero advertising anymore so I’m just surprised it’s alive and that people know it’s alive.
While 48 does come with plenty of restrictions, like international calls being a pain, the value is undeniable. “The Don” prepay plan gets you 1,000 minutes to any Irish mobile network, 60 landline minutes, unlimited texts and WhatsApp usage, with 8GB of data for you to gobble up too.
eir SIM Only Deals
eir is making hay while the sun shines, offering iD customers looking for a new plan a great SIM only plan, an offer now only playing second fiddle to Three’s offer. €15 per month will get you unlimited calls and texts with 15GB of data. That monthly price lasts for 12 months and goes up to €30 per month after that.
You’ll also get access to eir Sport which means you’ll be able to watch Premier League games every weekend on your phone. Just pop into any eir store to avail of the offer.
Goodbye iD Mobile
So there you have it. Ireland has lost a network. It will be interesting to see what happens in the market now given there was no interest to buy iD Mobile even though there were parties initially looking at the prospect. I’d wager we haven’t heard the end of this and the likes of Sky or Magnet could emerge from the embers after buying up what’s left of iD Mobile for a slashed price.
It’s important another network enters the market to keep the competition going. iD Mobile’s plans and offers were actually great, but the company just never got the momentum it needed to reach their target of 250,000 customers only ever reaching 40,000. Time will tell as we patiently wait for the company to be wound up and then see if someone emerges with a new MVNO for Ireland.
Full Statement from Dixons Carphone on iD Mobile Liquidation
iD Mobile, the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), has today been placed into provisional liquidation. The network was created in 2015 by Carphone
Warehouse Ireland Mobile Ltd. (a division of Dixons Carphone in Ireland) fulfilling part of the competition remedies imposed on Three Ireland by the European Commission in relation to its acquisition of O2 Ireland.
Dixons Carphone invested substantial resources to establish iD Mobile in Ireland and has continued to support the business financially. Despite a compelling
consumer mobile proposition in an increasingly competitive mobile market, iD Mobile was unable to achieve scale against established operators and its losses became unsustainable.
Interest from several potential buyers of the business was explored over a period of more than 12 months. However, a suitable buyer with the resources
required to make the MVNO a success could not be found and reluctantly a decision was taken to close iD Mobile in Ireland.
The key focus is now on ensuring iD Mobile’s 40,000 customers can transition over to a new network with minimum disruption and inconvenience.
To allow this to happen, Dixons Carphone has successfully applied for the appointment of a provisional liquidator, who will be provided with significant
financial and other support by the Group to allow full service to be maintained for all iD Mobile customers while they transition to an alternative network of their choice. iD Mobile’s suppliers will also continue to be paid for services they provide during
this time.
Customers will be contacted by text, letter and email in the coming days and all existing iD Mobile customers will be offered full service on the iD Mobile
network for the next 30 days. Bill-pay customers will not receive any further bills for their iD Mobile service and pay-as-you-go customers will be able to use any remaining call credit over this period.
iD Mobile customers are free to move to an alternative network as soon as they are ready. The expert team at Carphone Warehouse’s 82 stores nationwide is available to assist customers in choosing a network that’s right for them, and to move customers to their chosen operator. As a gesture of goodwill, any iD Mobile customer signing up to a new network in Carphone Warehouse over the next 30 days will receive €20 to spend in-store at the time of switching.
It’s hard to avoid the thought that banks are boring. You put your money there, maybe take out some imaginary money you don’t have or pretend to own a house when really it belongs to the bank. Actually, when you look at banks like that, man they are weird places. I’m in a strange position where I’ve had an account with nearly every bank account in Ireland and even worked for one. With all that accidental and incidental research I think I’m in a fairly good position to see who offers the most when it comes to tech.
Bank of Ireland
I’m starting with Bank of Ireland because they are my primary account, or at least they were. Bank of Ireland is Ireland’s oldest bank, a trait that’s unfortunately visible in their technology. The Bank of Ireland mobile banking app is terribly dated in terms of how it looks and how it works and doesn’t work. Even today, in a totally mobile world, their mobile banking app can be difficult to use on a smartphone.
Bank of Ireland doesn’t offer fingerprint recognition in their app either, but that’s the just start of it when it comes to the lack of innovation. Bank of Ireland has yet to introduce modern payment features like Google Pay or Apple Pay. I’ve just started playing with them myself and they are cool enough for me to feel like I’ve been missing out.
From here on out, every bank has something cool to celebrate, but Bank of Ireland are a fair bit behind the needs of Ireland’s tech-savvy customers with a dated app and a dated website. The only exception to all of this is the fact they are accepting mortgage appointments through Facetime.
AIB
Quick balance. Quick balance is one of those things that lets you appreciate how impatient people have become in recent years. By opening the AIB app, you can immediately check your bank account balance. No nonsense with passwords or codes. It’s actually really funny how quickly people will give up a bit of security for convenience and quick balance is a fantastic example of it in the real world.
AIB also offer my new favourite thing in tech; Google Pay and Apple Pay. If you’re popping into a shop to buy something you can tap your phone just like you would your card. I’ve already have some reasons to love this, which I’ll go into later.
The AIB app will unlock your data to you by way of fingerprint recognition too if you are using an iPhone. Unfortunately, this is not yet available for Android and even though a timeline has yet to be established, I don’t think AIB will wait around much longer.
Permanent TSB
Permanent TSB could so easily have fallen into the same category as Bank of Ireland, but instead, they are on track to be closer to AIB. Right now, they are really similar to Bank of Ireland in terms of their technological offering. Android Pay and Apple Pay are unavailable for customers to play with and their app doesn’t have fingerprint recognition.
Still, they launched a new site and app in 2016, arguably the best-looking site and app in Irish banking (though I might be biased; this was the bank I worked for). It’s just a pity they have yet to match the likes of AIB in terms of functionality.
N26, formerly Number26, is such a weird entry to this list. N26 is a European bank which is allowed operate in Ireland which we’ve gone on about that in the past. Their app is fantastic. You can access with fingerprint, block and unblock a lost, stolen or found bank card and categorise all your spending; whether that’s good or bad. When you buy something, you get a notification to your linked smartphone straight away. Whether that’s useful or not, I don’t actually know.
Then there’s the sign-up. Wow. To join N26, you go through a kind of banking Skype call. You answer some questions, hold your passport up to the camera and boom, you’re done. They’ll send out your Mastercard after a few days and you’re good to go.
With all these amazing features, it’s nothing short of stunning that N26 has yet to offer Android or Apple Pay. A real stumbling block for super techie bank, but they’re not alone…
Revolut
I really loved N26 when it launched, mainly because of the digital onboarding and the really cool app that tells you how your spending. After a while, I just fell out of love with N26 and went back to using my Irish bank account. Fast forward a few years and I started using Revolut. Revolut describes themselves as “your digital banking alternative” and they generally do deliver on that.
First and foremost, they don’t offer Google Pay or Apple Pay which probably puts me off making them my full-time bank. Well, that and the fact they’re virtual. Another thing that put me off transferring wages into N26. But, get passed that much and Revolut is an incredible banking option.
To date, Revolut claims to have saved customers almost €170 million in fees as transferring cash across borders is super simple using their service. I use Revolut as my preferred method of buying up cryptocurrencies and also get travel insurance covered because I’m a premium member. You can buy your offer gadget insurance with them too, but for some reason, only in every EU country except Ireland; go figure.
As you would expect, Revolut sends you a card that you can use in shops and online. My top tip is that any shopping online you ever do should be paid for with a Revolut card; not your traditional bank card. That extra layer of privacy is great is a site gets hacked, just like what happened with OnePlus.
I’ll be taking a deeper look at Revolut in another post but for now, if you’re looking for something that’s not the usual banking experience available on the high street, Revolut is a great option.
Ulster Bank
The bank of trying. If Bank of Ireland and AIB had a lovechild, it would be Ulster Bank. They offer loads of innovations including Google Pay, Apple Pay and fingerprint access to the app. Still, something about the look and feel of the bank seems dated, just like Bank of Ireland.
It’s a really strange one. When you think about to Permanent TSB which looks great but doesn’t offer loads of functionality while Ulster Bank has the functionality, but doesn’t look great. That’s the power of aesthetics these days.
There’s one more thing about Ulster Bank; their opening hours. I know this has nothing to do with tech, but they’re barely ever open at a time that suits people; you know, like opening at 10am and closing at 4pm. This is compounded by the fact their online experience is just ugly. But if you’re after an accessible and digital bank in Ireland, there’s really only one you should consider…
KBC
I’ve kept KBC till last for good reason. You may have read my ‘not so impressed’ review of their “banking in minutes” account setup process. While that didn’t run too smoothly, all in all, KBC offer the best digital banking experience in Ireland. Like I mentioned when reviewing their account opening app, they do deserve some credit for trying out innovative ways of setting up accounts. It didn’t work for me but I’m sure others are getting through it smoothly, but let’s move past that and give them the attempt marks.
KBC’s app is great, allowing you to manage every aspect of your account by a simple fingerprint tap. It’s also super secure which is critical these days. To log in, you need your password and use your phone as a secondary device to verify your identity. This is a security feature which I recently pointed out is going unused by 90% of Gmail users. It’s so important and should be something you apply to as many of your online accounts as possible.
You can also play with Google Pay and Apple Pay once you create a KBC account and they even support payments with FitBit. As they don’t really want people visiting their hubs (they don’t have proper banks as such) they also offer web chat. Over the past few years, I’ve realised that web chat is a massive factor for me making tech service decisions. Maybe I’m more antisocial than I thought, but for me, typing a few messages and getting a problem resolved at 9pm by web chat is the way of the future. Some might argue that banks are too impersonal but a quick strawpoll on Twitter suggests it’s possible people need to adopt the digital mentality:
Woman complaining on #liveline about banks not providing info on handling direct debits with the snow. Signs off saying there's no info on the teletext. Are banks forgetting people or are people too slow to keep up with digital services? @talktojoe1850
Of course, I know that’s a terribly small sample size, but interesting nonetheless.
Which Bank Is Best For You?
Should you pick a bank based on the amount of tech they offer you? Absolutely not. There are far more boring things I’m not going to go into which you need to consider before picking a bank. However, if you’re like me and you just want to pay for stuff with your phone, KBC is Ireland’s techiest bank, offering the best balance of services across their web and app platforms.
The truth of it all is that you should check your options. Switching bank is something you should weigh up every now and then. Check out this website from the Irish Central Bank but also look to new options on the market. My current combination is KBC and Revolut with the latter providing an extra layer of protection for online shoppers.
Which bank are you using yourself? What do you love or hate about them? Let us know in the comments below.
If you’re an Apple iPhone, Watch or Mac user and you bank with AIB, KBC or Ulster Bank, did you know you can use Apple Pay to pretty much pay for everything in your daily life which requires parting with your hard earned cash? It’s ok if you feel like you need your regular morning Latte Macchiato Lite fix.
One of the main advantages of a digital wallet service is that you just need your phone to pay for items. So if you do pop out at lunchtime to collect your favourite sambo and realise at the last moment that you have forgotten your wallet, you can still pay for your lunch and stave off hunger. Assuming, of course, you haven’t also forgotten your phone, but who does this? Also, if your hands are full and your card is buried in your wallet, your phone is probably easier to grab.
Let’s dive into what Apple Pay really is.
How Does Apple Pay Work?
Woah there you say, Apple pay, what’s this all about? Apple Pay is a mobile payment/digital wallet service introduced by Apple in 2014, initially in the US and a handful of local banks. It allows Apple users to add debit and credit cards to their virtual wallet app. You can then use this virtual wallet to pay for items the same way you would with your debit or credit cards. Of course, you can’t stick your phone in a card machine so Apple Pay works on the same principle that your card’s contactless payments work on. It has since been rolled out across the globe, with many more banks jumping on-board too, including certain Irish banks in 2017. Currently, AIB, Ulster Bank and KBC offer Apple Pay.
How to Use Apple Pay
Setting up Apple Pay is super simple too. Just add your debit or credit card into your wallet app, answer a few security questions and your setup and ready to go. Paying is also nice and easy. When it comes time to pay, point your iPhone or Watch at the terminal and, if you use touch id, verify you’re you with your fingerprint. Alternatively, with the iPhone X, your Face ID is used to authenticate. Apple Watch just requires a double tap of the side button to authenticate the payment. Your previous 10 transactions are held within the Wallet app so you can audit your transactions and feel really bad about all those lunches out you’ve bought.
Where Does Apple Pay Work in Ireland?
Apple Pay is available in most stores that accept contactless payments with more and more being added every week. Some confirmed locations you can use Apple Pay in include:
SuperValu
Dunnes Stores
Aldi
Lidl
Boots
KFC
M&S
Insomnia
You can also use Apple Pay when checking out online with sites like Ryanair, easyJet, deliveroo, Booking.com.
How Secure is Apple Pay?
Short answer – super secure. In fact, just like Google Pay, it’s more secure than using your debit or credit card because unlike with these forms of payment, your card details are not stored or transmitted on the terminal held by the vendor. With Apple Pay, Apple uses a unique device code and unique transaction code, so your card details are never stored on your iPhone or Watch. They don’t even go near Apple Servers.When a payment is initiated, these one-time unique numbers are used instead of sharing your card details with the shop or online service.
How Much Does Apple Pay Cost?
Apple also doesn’t charge any extra transaction fees for using Apple Pay, but remember your bank might.
What is Apple Pay Cash?
Irish Apple Pay users will soon have an additional service called Apple Pay Cash. This is a peer-to-peer payment service, or in plain English, a service letting you can send money to other Apple Pay users. This has become increasingly popular in recent years with services like Plynk entering the market.
Apple Pay Cash will make fixing up with your friend for dinner as easy as sending an iMessage. No more embarrassing dramas about splitting restaurant bills or paying for cinema tickets. All you need to do is pop into your text the amount you want to send to your fellow Apple Pay friend and hey presto, it’s transferred to their bank account.
So there you have it. If you’re an iPhone user give it Apple Pay a go. There’s a very real chance that you’ll stop reaching for your debit card to pay for your morning coffee. Just remember, you are still spending real money.
You know those daytime home makeover shows? You know the ones, where they take a home-owner away for a cup of coffee and they come back to find a few new rugs, some Ikea furniture and a lick of paint on the walls. Well, that kinda happens with a lot of websites every couple of months. You’ll get a new logo, maybe a colour scheme or something similar. I was going to do that with Goos3D recently but then I realised there was something was wrong from day one and it was time to fix it.
Why Goos3D in the First Place?
If you haven’t had a chat with me in person you probably haven’t heard about how the Goos3D name came about. Basically, I was working in a phone shop where one of my colleagues refused to tell customers their phones were broken. He’d always say ‘yer phone is goosed’. It has a strange ability to disarm customers and typically, get a reaction closer to ‘ah shur what can ya do?’ than ‘I’m going to pull you over the counter and bate ya’.
That term stuck with me because by using the right words, people felt better about the tech in their lives. The power of words. But why didn’t set up goosed.ie from the start then? Good question and also why you probably haven’t heard this story when we were in the media.
The day I came home and decided to start this site, I simply sat down and tried to buy ‘goosed.com’. No dice as it was already taken.It’s also important to note that a couple of years ago, buying ‘.ie’ websites weren’t as straightforward as it is today, so I was stuck with the ‘.com’ domains.
While most people would do some digging into who owns the site URL they want, I pushed forward and bought the cool techie looking version of it and swapped out the ‘e’ with a ‘3’. In hindsight, that was a terrible idea.
Never Ever Visit Goosed.com
We have a thing called Google Analytics. We use to see what articles get the most views and which articles people are really enjoying so we can keep creating content you guys love. One day, I started spotting some really strange data appearing in Google Analytics; x-rated looking stuff. So I finally did some digging into that other website. Yup, it’s a porn site. Lesson learned.
So goosed.ie Was Born
With ‘Goosed.com’ not an option, no one able to pronounce ‘Goos3D’ as ‘goosed’, we made the decision to go for the name we always wanted with a dot ‘ie’ domain; goosed.ie. We have no interest in bringing tech news to people outside of Ireland so the Irish domain identity suits our mission. That’s to bring the people of Ireland technology news they can actually relate to; affordable gadgets, free apps and premium tech worth shedding a few Euro on. We also aim to be totally accessible too. Not only will we chat about tech on our site, through Tech Yurt, our podcast, and across our social channels, but we’re always here to answer your questions too.
For now, that’s it! We’re waiting for Facebook to update our name and for Google to adjust to our ‘new’ name, but we’re more or less now goosed.ie. I really hope you like the new look and feel to the place and as always, if you ever have a question about tech and feel like you need a steer, holla at us.
So the weather since November has been awful to be fair…but it’s about to get worse. Yes that’s right Storm Emma or “The Beast From The East” is on the way with temperatures set to plunge to minus 10 with parts of the country forecast to be hit with 30-40cm of snow. It’s going to get rough out there but that was before “The Lads From the Whest” put their heads together and came up with our one-stop shop to share our top tips on how best to enjoy the upcoming snow days!
Get Charged
With schools and work set be closed down for a day or two, we are sure to get a couple blackouts if not a full-blown power outage. To keep yourself and the little ones sane we recommend charging everything to max capacity as soon as possible. We have all had that moment during a blackout where we all watch our phone battery and thus our connection to the outside world fade and die right before our eyes. Don’t let that be you, so here’s a list of everything we can think of to help you stay connected during the downtime:
Tablets/iPads
Laptops
Smartphone’s
Powerbanks (serious lifesaver if you haven’t already got one hop down to any local phone or electronics shop and pick a decent one up for €30)
Mobile Broadband Modems just in case the connection holds up)
Download all the Things
What’s the best thing about Storm/Snowdays? hiding under your blanket in front of the fire watching movies with the family or housemates of course. If you want to keep the little ones (or fully grown children like myself) entertained we highly recommend downloading Disney Life on their free 14-day trial and download a few series or epic Disney classics to keep them nicely occupied. Otherwise, if you have an Android phone and a Chromecast get onto your Netflix account and download a few of the many bangers that are available to download to watch later. Here are a few shows/movies and documentaries we think will be sure to make your day pass without a second thought:
For the sports fans,
Juventus First Team – a close up intimate look at the Juventus first team as they embark on the new football season as they hope to make Italian football history. We get detailed and personal insights from players such as Gigi Buffon, Gonzalo Higuain and Pablo Dybala.
Messi – Another documentary movie about Mr Lionel Messi, tracking his rise from the streets of Rosario all the way to the Nou Camp. Find out more about this quite but brilliant footballer
Coach Snoop – An American television series that follows legendary Hip-Hop artist Snoop Dogg as he coaches a youth football league to keep at-risk kids off the streets and focused on their goals.
For the Comedy Lovers,
Chris Rock Tamborine – the latest Netflix special from comedian Chris Rock as he pokes fun at serious issues like his own divorce and other controversial topics
Dave Chappelle Equanimity & The Bird Revolution – In his final Netflix comedy specials (yes there’s two) Chappelle jokes about what it was like to grow up poor and how he took heat from the Trump on the campaign trail
Documentaries Galore
Dirty Money – A Netflix Original Series documenting various stories about exposing the greed, corruption, and crime spreading through the global economy.
Bowling for Columbine – topical right now due to recent news stateside filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America’s predilection for gun violence.
Blackfish – Shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity, get ready for all the feels as your hear Tilikums sad story.
TV Shows and Series
Friends
Altered Carbon
Rick & Morty
Black Mirror
The Young Offenders
Get The Munchies Sorted
Let’s face it if we have a power outage you will have invested in a press full of goodies to gorge on throughout the day or if you’re anything like us has forgotten and will be praying to find a takeaway that will deliver in the worst of conditions. If there is one lesson we learnt from good ole Harrold and Kumar it’s this, don’t venture outside to get food it gets weird. JustEat, Marvin and The Delivery Guys are all simple to use apps that are available on the App or Play Store and will ensure you find a way to get fed without braving the snow storms.
If you’re really stuck, our very own Gary Cronin is peddling a survival bargain…
With power probably at a minimum we highly recommend investing in a few candles or torches at the very least. If you do decide to go down the candle route say nothing to the other half and look like the romantic fool you always were meant to be. In 9 months time Jon, Martin, Gary, Dean and Neal are all names you can happily borrow…just saying.
Everything Else
Stay Safe
Sure thing Theresa! Although we might enjoy a bit of craic here at Goos3D, we do want all of our readers to stay safe if the weather does get as bad as expected. Look after yourselves out their and remember to take care on the roads if you’re out and about. Oh and get the bag of cans at the ready because let’s face it a midweek day off work calls for a scoop or two.
Nokia has developed this amazing ability to fire up my inner child. You might remember they launched a modern take on a classic in 2017 with the Nokia 3310. This was shortly after myself and the lads of Goos3D were genuinely using the old Nokia 3310 while raising money for the Irish Cancer Society. While the new 3310 managed to be a disappointment owing to the fact it only 2.5G and didn’t work on a lot of networks, Nokia has realised there’s a lot of excitement to be generated from reinventing an old mobile phone. That’s why they unashamedly just gone and played the same play at Mobile World Congress 2018.
Relaunching the Nokia 8110
When it comes to defining what a cool phone is, the Nokia 8110 ticked a lot of boxes:
looks great
starred in a blockbuster movie
had moving bits
Indeed, after the 3310, if Nokia would be drawing on nostalgia again it would be difficult to look past the 8110. As soon as that phone fell from a FedEx package in the first Matrix movie, rang, only to be answered by a spring-loaded mechanism, the world was in love. It’s funny that the original 8110 didn’t actually have that spring-loaded answering feature at all. This came thanks to some Hollywood trickery while consumers would have to wait for Nokia to create the 8110’s successor; the Nokia 7110.
The Slidey Bit
So, the first bit of bad news is that the new Nokia 8110 isn’t spring loaded. You can answer calls and hang up by sliding the keypad cover though, which is easily the coolest way to finish that super important business call.
Full 4G
Learning from what disappointed some about the Nokia 3310, the 8110 comes with full 4G. The launch video also suggests that the 8110 supports tethering through a hotspot so this could be a rather affordable alternative to mobile broadband modems. Most modems usually come in between €50 and €100 while the Nokia 8110 is just €79. Once again, Nokia is going after the budget festival market with this one.
Lots of Apps
Also nice to see on the Nokia 8110 is a larger selection of apps so you can actually make use of your 4G connection, including:
Google Assistant
Google Maps
Google Search
Facebook
Twitter
While Nokia is the heaviest hitter in the feature phone market, the real reason behind the launch of the 8110 is to generate a bit of buzz around Nokia’s latest smartphones; which are mightily impressive in their own right.
Nokia’s Latest Android Smartphones
As the Nokia 8110 Trojan Horse bursts open, out spills four new Nokia smartphones for 2018, including the:
Nokia 8 Sirocco
Nokia 7 Plus
Nokia 6
Nokia 1
The first three join the ever-growing range of Android One smartphones; Android One being an uber-clean operating system. This ensures Nokia smartphones come with no unnecessary UI changes or hidden processes that would eat up battery life or slow them down.
Unfortunately, there’s yet to be confirmation that the incredible looking Nokia 8 Sirocco will be available in Ireland but we should get the Nokia 7 Plus.
Meet the Nokia 7 Plus
Nokia pitches the 7 Plus towards those looking to create content on the go but not looking to break the bank with Samsung Galaxy S9 prices. All you really need to know is the relationship between Nokia and lens creator ZEISS continues so the 12MP wide-angle primary shooter is unlikely to disappoint.
Even less likely to disappoint is the price. You should be able to pick up a Nokia 7 Plus for just €399; or nothing up front if opting for a network contract. That’s a whopper price for these specs:
Nokia’s continued return to prominence in the mobile world looks like it won’t be stopping any time soon. Be sure to give us a follow as we’ll be getting hands on with Nokia smartphones in the near future.
I get excited about phone launches. You know, the live blogging, new features, innovations all that craic. Needless to say, Samsung’s 2018 Unpacked event got the full treatment with me sitting there, watching the live stream and taking in everything the company’s speakers had to say. Come the end of the launch, I was begging Samsung to have a Steve Jobs-style “one more thing” moment, introducing a feature that knocked my socks off – but would it come?
Meet The Samsung Galaxy S9
In the build-up to Samsung’s 2018 Unpacked event at Mobile World Congress, there had been countless leaks. I’m pretty sure the only thing I learned from the launch that wasn’t leaked was a partnership with Disney. Still, let’s just run through what was confirmed.
The Camera “Reimagined”
I was a bit harsh on the leaks about Samsung’s S9 camera prior to launch. I predicted that the core message of a “camera reimagined” combined with upgrades primarily driven by software would be underwhelming. My apologies; I was wrong. Samsung’s S9 camera does actually have a hardware upgrade, boasting a dual-aperture lens to capture better shots in bright and low light. I do, however, stand by what I said about that being underwhelming.
It’s a damn shame that Samsung is keeping the dual-lens camera for the S9+. I’ve been enjoying their Live Focus on my Note8 since launch day and it is incredible. Pity Samsung S9 owners will never get to enjoy it.
Slow Motion Capture
Now I will concede the S9’s slow-motion capture is pretty cool. I remember being blown away by Sony’s take on this over the years and now Samsung are really upping the game. The Galaxy S9 can take a 0.2 second moment (that’s about a blink) and create a 6-second video.
While it’s cool, I still wonder how many people will be rocking slow-motion videos. Like, just how useful is this? It’s cool, sure, but slow-motion is probably only useful if you want to get some Jackass-style nut shots or jumping cat videos.
A Fingerprint Scanner Where It Nearly Makes Sense
I’m not entirely sure what Samsung was thinking when it came to fingerprint scanner placement lately. Everyone knows that most manufacturers are putting these centred on the back of the phone, but Samsung went a bit mad placing them to the right of the camera.
Finally, they’ve placed it where it belongs, centred below the rear camera. In a perfect world, everyone would follow Sony’s lead and integrate the fingerprint scanner into a side power button, but no one is perfect.
AR Emoji
This is where I kind of lost faith in humanity. I’ll admit I’m gathering years. I’m turning thirty this year and while I know that’s not really that old, I don’t really get things like Snapchat. Sure, it’s cool that I can creep on my area through Snap Maps, but other than that I don’t get Snapchat.
I cannot believe that both Samsung and Apple think translating human emotion into a digital avatar is ground-breaking.
Again, don’t get me wrong; it’s bloody cool, but it does feel like they’re scraping the barrel for innovations when these get a hefty share of a keynote launch.
And bucking the usual trends, people seem to agree with me:
Is it upsetting that two of the world's biggest smartphone manufacturers thing animated emojis are massive breakthroughs? #unpacked
Regardless, the launch of AR Emoji went really well for Samsung. The speakers got their avatars set up seamlessly and they do look pretty cool.
Samsung’s Sounds
The new flagships will have dual front-facing speakers, with the top speaker doubling up as an ear-piece. Dual-facing speakers are amazing. I don’t understand by more manufacturers don’t big this up given HTC nailed it a few years ago. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ speakers are tuned by AKG and boosted by Dolby ATMOS. While some don’t like the fake equalisation, you can be sure that for most users, the new Samsungs will simply pack an incredible audio punch.
Oh, it’s important to point this out these days; both phones will have a headphone jack.
And Meet the Samsung Galaxy S9+
Simply put; if you’re going to upgrade to this generation of Samsung flagships, you really need to give the Galaxy S9+ serious consideration. With the “camera reimagined” as a core launch message, the S9+ is the only phone from the pair that comes close to delivering. Even so, the big win for the S9+’s camera is the dual-lens which Samsung first featured on the Note8. I have this and I love it.
Beyond that, there’s not much more to set the S9+ apart from the S9. Of course, the S9+ has a bigger screen measuring 6.2-inches versus the S9’s 5.8-inches. You’ll also get a bigger battery on the S9+ with 3500 mAh versus the S9’s 3000 mAh, but of course, the bigger screen needs more juice.
Samsung Galaxy S9 European Price
Rather surprisingly, Samsung didn’t take their opportunity on stage at Mobile World Congress to share pricing on either the S9 or S9+. Pricing was leaked a few days ago, but it was very awkward pricing.
We’ll let you know as soon as it’s confirmed though.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Launch Date
While pricing remains an unconfirmed mystery, 16 March as confirmed as a launch date. Yup, you’ll be able to have your phone a whole day before you lose it down some toilet on St. Patrick’s Day.
Samsung is targeting two different groups with the Galaxy S9:
Owners of much older smartphones
Enterprise contracts (business phones)
Samsung’s focus on Enterprise really suggests they don’t believe there’s massive consumer hunger for the Galaxy S9. Sure enough, if you’ve got yourself something like an S6 or S7, it’ll be tempting to upgrade to either the S9 or S9+. I upgraded from the S7 Edge to the Note8 and I’ll be honest, it was a great upgrade. Many believe I should have gone for the Galaxy S8, but then I wouldn’t have the gorgeous dual-lens setup and Live Focus.
So what should you do?
Well, if the camera is a big deal for you and you’re rocking a single lens right now, give either the Note8 or Galaxy S9+ some serious thought. If smartphone photography isn’t a massive deal for you either the Galaxy S8 or S8+ is going to pack plenty of bang for your buck while looking exactly like the S9. Remember, it’s not like these cameras are complete muck either.
Should you consider Apple?
If you haven’t moved to Apple already, there’s still no real reason to. The iPhone X for all its noise is coughing and spluttering in terms of adoption and its features are all a little meh. There’s still pretty much nothing you can do with an iPhone that the new Samsung’s can’t do. Actually, you could probably go as far back as the S7 Edge if you really wanted to.
Then again, the iPhone 8 Plus does indeed have that lovely dual lens set up, so give it some thought for a second then buy yourself a Note8.
Did you ever go to Knock when you were younger? It didn’t do much for my spirituality, but I actually did do that pilgrimage. I’m not a big fan of religion, but there’s one pilgrimage I’d love to do; Mobile World Congress. Mobile World Congress to smartphone fans is like Knock to the religious types. With the 2018 event just about to kick off, here’s what we can expect to emerge from one of tech’s biggest gatherings.
Samsung at Mobile World Congress
Samsung is effectively headlining Mobile World Congress this year. Last year, they rocked out on stage with some tablets but this year they launch the brand new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Last year Samsung showed us a few tablets, likely giving their twin flagships some extra test time after the Note7 started exploding.
You could argue that the new Samsung flagships are hardly big news considering how leaky they have been in the past few weeks.
Samsung is really focusing on their camera for the launch of the S9, claiming it’s been ‘reimagined’. Considering only the S9+ will have a dual lens, that means the reimagined camera on the S9 will largely depend on software. Considering the physical appearance of the S9 being incredibly similar to the S8 and the core launch feature being software related, I’m calling it; Samsung’s flagship launch will be underwhelming.
Apple at Mobile World Congress
Apple doesn’t go to Mobile World Congress; that would be way too mainstream for them.
Sony at Mobile World Congress
Sony regularly updates their flagship smartphones; every six months to be exact. The mind boggles at how they create a flagship and then squash that flagship into a compact model; something I’ll be looking at more closely soon. They’ll be launching the next suite of flagships at Mobile World Congress 2018, namely the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact.
Sony tends to be the unsung heroes of smartphone manufacturers. Last year, I got to play with the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and was blown away by the quality or the phone, camera and positioning of its fingerprint sensor; I honestly don’t understand how all manufacturers don’t follow suit. Maybe it’s the regularity of their releases takes the sting out of their innovation, but their efforts at MWC 2018 will surely grab some headlines.
Pre-MWC leaks show that Sony will chop the bezels off their flagships, the one thing that seemed dated on the XZ1 range of smartphones. They will also likely move towards the tall and narrow style. My Samsung Note8 was the first tall and narrow style phone I’ve ever had and it’s great! Long may this last. In fact, Sony should also be debuting wireless charging on their new flagships too. Allelujah.
Sony also has a lot of very exciting Google Assistant-enabled earphones on the way too, so I’d imagine these will be floating around MWC too.
The Others at MWC 2018
While Apple always steers clear of MWC, HTC and Huawei will be missed, opting to avoid the noisy launch of Samsung’s Unpacked event. Of course, they’ll be along later in the year with their latest gadgetry. LG will be on hand to release their new smartphones but they’re so hard to get in Ireland, it’s hardly worth looking at them just yet.
Nokia, on the other hand, might have something worth shouting about. Last year they stole the show with the revival of the Nokia 3310 which, admittedly, was less exciting when it launched. Maybe they’ll do something crazy again an revive the classic ‘banana phone’ made famous by Neo in the Matrix.
Their range of Android smartphones have received rave reviews and I’ll be hoping to get a look at what they have to offer in the coming months.
Finally, Google is unveiling Android Go; their operating system for low-spec smartphones. We should also get a look at some hardware to go with the OS too.
The Mobile World Congress Conference
MWC isn’t just about gadgets and phone launches. The conference itself is a massive centre of innovation and insight into the latest tech.
Biometric Access
The conference itself will be debuting facial recognition access. Super cool and super creepy. The idea is that you’ll be able to rock up to the entrance and get in by having your face scanned. MWC organisers are obviously aware of the creepy factor and will let attendees opt out of this too.
5G
In the past week, Three announced their plans to roll out 5G technology in Ireland while Vodafone and Huawei claimed to have made the first 5G call. As you might imagine, 5G is going to be a massive talking point at MWC too, but don’t expect anything interesting to emerge from Barcelona on it this year. Most of the talks are those boring infrastructure and security talks; bleagh.
Formula 1
This is the first year that the FIA’s Formula 1 series will have its own area. I’m a massive F1 fan and it’s really hard to ignore that there’s a revival taking place in the sport right now, much of which is coming from the letter ‘E’.
Esports
Last year, F1 organisers launched their Esports series which pitted the world’s top video game drivers against each other. The game from Codemasters is remarkably realistic and F1 seems keen to capitalise on a new generation of F1 fans through this medium.
Former World Champion and current number one driver at McLaren, Fernando Alonso, is on-hand at MWC to take part in a panel discussion titled The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Alonso even started his own Esports team after being bitten by the gaming bug in 2017.
Formula E
While many were upset to see F1 engines drop back to V6s and the weird noise that comes with it, you should try watching Formula E! Silent engines. It’s mega weird, but it’s just another way our world is changing because of tech. There’s even a social aspect to this sport, where fans can vote for drivers to gain an advantage. Here’s what the sport is all about.
And lots more…
That’s all just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on the news breaking from Mobile World Congress 2018 so give us a follow on the old Tweet machine.
Ok, it’s official. The selection of smart assistants not on the market is incredible. While the title of this article suggests this is a three horse race, Amazon has four Echo smart assistants while Google has three ranging. While rumour has it that Spotify is on the verge of entering the smart assistant space and companies like Sony and Mobvoi offering alternative Google Assistant hardware, I’m going to focus on the big three manufacturers.
Here’s my pick of the smart assistants on the market today and which one should get your hard earned cash.
First Thing’s First: Do You Have Amazon, Apple or Google Products Already?
From the outset, it’s important I point out the joys of creating a smart single-brand ecosystem in your home. For example, if you bought a Google Chromecast a few years ago and couldn’t imagine life without it, getting yourself a Google Home or Google Home Mini probably makes the most sense. If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, have a Prime membership along with their video and music streaming services, well Amazon is probably the best call. The only exception to this rule might very well be Apple.
Typically, Apple products work incredibly well together. If you have a MacBook, iPhone and Apple TV, you’re enjoying a seamless integration of services. I don’t believe the Apple Homepod adds to the Apple ecosystem as much as the other devices do. So without further ado, let’s kick off with the Apple Homepod.
Should You Buy an Apple Homepod?
You could argue that Apple either joined this party really late or pioneered the whole thing. You might remember there was a time when talking on a handsfree kit in an Irish town would have left the locals thinking you were stark raving mad. Today, everyone knows you’re not talking to yourself, but to your earphones; well, in most cases anyway.
Smart assistants have enjoyed a similar journey to the handsfree kit, with many afraid to look like a crazy person talking to their phone like it was a friend. Today, it’s slightly more commonplace and that journey started with Apple. Siri was introduced to the world when they launched the iPhone 4S in 2011. This was a groundbreaking inclusion which changed how people viewed smartphone interactions, shifting from robotic inputs to more natural language. You can watch the entire segment on Siri below:
Apple’s Lost Ground
Now, don’t get me wrong, voice-controlled smart assistants have been around much longer than Siri has, but it was Apple’s assistant which main the idea go mainstream. This is what makes the Apple Homepod launching in January of 2018 so odd. Amazon released the first Echo smart speaker in 2014 with the first Google Home competing in the market since 2016. There doesn’t seem to be any real reason for Apple’s delay in getting a speaker to market, except perhaps the bad memories of the failed iPod Hi-Fi.
The Homepod’s Weakness is Siri’s Weakness
To compound the problems of lost ground, Siri hasn’t gotten a whole lot smarter in recent years. Chances are, no sooner will you have uttered “hey Siri” and a quick command and you’ll be frustrated with her attempts to achieve your task; or more likely whatever she thinks she heard. Siri has never recognised voices very well and us poor Irish people suffer worse than most.
The Homepod’s Price is Too Big a Barrier
It’s really important that I point this out. Of all the smart assistants in this post, I haven’t had a chance to try out the Homepod. Even so, from afar it’s easy to spot some pretty massive issues. From experience, I know Siri only ever looks like the smart one in the group when compared to Microsoft’s Cortana; which incidentally hasn’t made this list at all.
Incredibly, the Apple Homepod will only work should you have another Apple device in the home; along the lines of an iPad or iPhone. Finally, to top it all off, the Homepod will set you back over €360. Apple has touted the speaker as being one of the best on the market and I will have to admit that I haven’t tested this one, arguably, purchase saving feature. But given the price, quality and sound offered by the competitors, I doubt the Apple Homepod can offer enough sound quality to make up for the other shortcomings.
Should You Buy an Amazon Echo?
The Amazon Echo in its packaging
With the Apple Homepod set aside, we’re already getting into the business end of the smart assistants on the market. Amazon has really gone gung-ho into this area of the online world and created three great options along with a few overpriced ones too.
The Second Generation Amazon Echo is Fantastic
You might remember a while back that I put together a review of the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. This was an epic battle between hardware and price considering the software on both devices was almost identical:
Now, you can either watch that entire video or let me tell you that the Echo Dot won. There was a sizeable price difference between the Echo and Echo Dot which just couldn’t be justified on upgraded hardware alone. I recently got myself the second generation Echo which has an upgraded speaker and a lower price. This changed the game completely and now for around €100, you can pick up a quality speaker boasting incredible sound and a very smart assistant.
The Perfect Smarthome Hub
This isn’t really specific to the Amazon Echo itself, more the Alexa range of assistants in general. Alexa would be a terrible person to join your table quiz team. Her general knowledge is pretty poor. The big strength comes with controlling smart tech at home; say hello to the internet of things.
I picked up some Energenie smart plugs for €25 (granted I already at the necessary hub), synced them with my Echo and suddenly converted my apartment into a smart home. The Alexa app can, at the touch of a button, scan your home network for other smart devices and when discovered you’ll be able to talk your lamps into turning off.
Amazon Admits Ireland Exists
Up until the very end of 2017, if you wanted to pick up any of the Alexa-powered smart speakers, you would need to use Parcel Motel as Amazon only delivered these devices to the UK. Android users could sideload the Alexa app onto their phone for setup, but not download the official app from the Play Store. If you think that’s bad, poor old iPhone users would have to change their location settings or settle for using the Alexa app website.
Thankfully, Amazon finally looked across the water and admitted that Ireland does indeed exist. They now offer delivery to Ireland and also made their official apps available in the Play Store and App Store. Even picking up an Echo from a physical store has become much easier with the likes of High Street stores including electronic superstore Currys.
While that’s all well and good, a lot of that is mainly just Amazon making their hardware more available in Ireland, but the price difference does mean forking out a little bit more cash gets you a much better speaker, leaving the second generation Echo top of the Amazon smart assistant pile.
Should You Buy an Amazon Echo Dot?
While the second generation Echo is incredible, if you are brand new to the smart assistant world you might be seeking a very low barrier to entry. Coming in at less than €60, the Echo Dot packs a lot of punch while being the joint cheapest option alongside the Google Home Mini. It was the first assistant I had and I was extremely happy with it for quite some time. In fact, I still am as one of the big benefits of the Echo Dot is adding Alexa’s assistance to a second room without having to fork out the €100 needed to land the second generation Echo.
Should You Buy an Amazon Echo Show?
The Echo Show is cross between a tablet and an Alexa-powered Echo. With extra hardware comes some extra cost too as the Echo Show will set you back over €220. The killer blow for the Echo Show came in 2017 when Google revoked Amazon’s access to YouTube. Actually, YouTube was pulled from the Echo Show and Amazon’s Fire TV media players. To have a video player which cannot access the world’s biggest video database just seems to be more than a small waste of money.
Should you Buy an Amazon Echo Spot?
My Echo Spot is Great for Audiobooks
Johnny-Five proved to us all that we could fall in love with collections of circuits and solder. The Echo Spot is a sign of Amazon’s dedication to having a device everywhere in your home. The Spot is an adorable little Alexa-powered alarm clock, designed to be popped beside your bed. Unfortunately, the Spot is a reminder of the old days where Amazon don’t ship them to Ireland yet, but once again Parcel Motel will help you sidestep that little issue.
I picked up an Echo Spot the day they launched in the UK and being honest, I haven’t been blown away by it. The speaker is ok, somewhere between the first generation Echo and Echo Dot. It’s more than a little weird having the Spot’s non-optional built-in webcam staring at you while you sleep, so I’ve stuck a physical webcam cover over the front.
Personally, I’m just delighted I didn’t pick up the Echo Show as the Spot can do pretty much everything the Show can for under €140. Finally, I will admit that I don’t think I’ve really test driven the Spot properly, so I’m going to give it some wiggle room until when I really get to play with it.
Should you Buy a Google Home?
Ah, ‘The Big G’. Where would we be without Google? Who would we ask all these private and personal questions that we urgently need answers for? Google has revolutionised information. We no longer focus on knowing things safe in the knowledge that we can probably find out if we need to. Unlike Amazon Alexa devices, Google Assistant powered hardware would give you quite the advantage in a table quiz. Google are the masters of search, a lineage which makes the Google Home a very knowledgeable device indeed.
The Google Home is Getting Dated
Now that you know the primary benefits of Google Assistant power, should you buy a Google Home? In short, no. The Google Home is much like the Amazon Echo; it’s a first generation device. The sound quality is great, but it doesn’t stand up to the second generation Echo. Sure the search functionality is better, but you can get this same software in a smaller device, with a smaller price and plenty of audio bang too.
The original Google Home is rather pricey by today’s standards and will set you back about €150; €50 more than the second generation Echo.
Incredibly, even with so many offices in Ireland, Google doesn’t officially sell the Home smart assistant in Ireland despite, as confirmed in a private tweet to us by a reader, the packaging for the Google Home Mini saying it’s imported into the EU by Google, Ireland. Talk about adding insult to injury. Of course, if you are set on picking up a Google Home, Parcel Motel offers opens up that option through their virtual UK address.
Should you Buy a Google Home Mini?
Now, this is where things get really interesting. The Google Home Mini boasts a great quality speaker, falling in third behind both Google and Amazon flagship smart speakers. Priced at just under €60 it’s the joint cheapest device from the big three but does boast a better speaker than the Echo Dot.
If you have a Chromecast setup in your gaff, all you have to do is ask your Google Home Mini to stream YouTube or Netflix content to your telly and like magic you’re watching the latest episodes of Designated Survivor or a new cat video you’ve never seen before.
Again, you’ll need to order this through Parcel Motel if you want to get your mitts on a Google Home Mini, which is something I might actually be taking a little too personally. It’s really irritating to see there’s demand in Ireland for these gadgets and Google aren’t making it easy for people to pick them up.
So Which Smart Assistant Should You Buy?
I’ve left you with more questions than answers right? Ok, let’s sum it all up.
If you want a really simple smart assistant to take calendar commands, control some devices in your home without any hassle during the ordering process; pick up the Amazon Echo Dot.
If you have a Chromecast and you really just want to show off that there’s a gadget in your house that can answer most questions, the Google Home Mini might be the best gadget for the job. Just remember, buying these in Ireland can be tough.
If you’re confident that a smart speaker is something you really want in your gaff and you’re also hoping to start listening to some classy music while you have dinner, the second generation Amazon Echo is a perfect choice. This offers great sound quality at a fantastic price and you can order it straight to Ireland no hassle at all. Just always check if you’re getting free delivery to Ireland. If not, the €4 on Parcel Motel could end up saving you money.
If you’re a lunatic with far more money than sense, the Apple Homepod might actually get a look in. Just be aware, you’re spending too much for a low IQ smart assistant.
Of course, everyone is different. While I’m not at all suggesting these smart speakers are getting close to being human, you will get along with them differently depending on what your usage will be. Hopefully, this article acts as a decent starting point for which assistant you pick. We also had a chat about smart assistants on Episode 3 of Tech Yurt, the Goos3D.ie podcast, so feel free to check that out.
As always, feel free to holla at us over on Facebook or Twitter if you have any questions.
