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Crowdfunded: FlipFlic smartblinds

Marty
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Crowdfunded: FlipFlic smartblinds

New to Kickstarter this week is FlipFlic, a disruptive smart blind option for your home.

Disruptive technology is arguably always the most exciting technology. In the tech world, disruptive is a title given to alternative and often cheaper smart solutions. Imagine you wish to install smart blinds in your home, which can be opened and closed through your smartphone. They will likely be rather expensive and your old blinds will go to waste. FlipFlic seeks to overcome this with an affordable solution which utilises your existing blinds.

What is the FlipFlic for?

Many homes have some sort of blinds installed. Blinds control the light and affect the temperature of the room they are in by allowing light in, while also providing privacy. The FlipFlic controls your blinds, opening and closing them upon your command. This is either achieved through manual control or smart controls via the device’s app.

What are the benefits of FlipFlic?

Home automation devices such as the FlipFlic are all based on one simple principal; efficiency. This efficiency comes from smart devices taking over mundane tasks you aren’t a big fan of, or through direct savings through reduced home energy usage. The creators behind FlipFlic have stated their device can save up to $50 per year per FlipFlic controlled blind system.

As with most items new to Kickstarter, it’s the attention to detail that will likely herald the success of FlipFlic. Such attention is visible through the inclusion of a solar charging panel for the device.

What blinds is FlipFlic compatible with

flipflic gifFlipFlic works with horizontal and vertical Venetian blinds, where the twist/tilting wand/rod can be detached. The FlipFlic simply replaces the wand with a small spinning motorised grip, which can then control the blinds. The device suits 1″ mini blinds and 2″ blinds up to 60″ wide.

Also popular in Ireland are blinds controlled with a cord. The good news is the same team are working on a solution for these blinds. You can sign up for updates on their website.

How much will FlipFlic cost?

If you live in a glasshouse, the price will run up pretty quickly, but if you only have a few windows it shouldn’t be too bad. Considering the devices come with the option of solar power, you can also be rest assured that the devices will pay for themselves in savings over time. Below is a chart cost for the initial crowd funding stage.

new to kickstarter - flipflic

You can back the FlipFlic now on Kickstarter.

Panama Papers – The world’s biggest data leak

Marty
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Panama Papers – The world’s biggest data leak

The Panama Papers refers to the biggest leak of data in history. Over the course of a year, 2.6 terrabytes of data comprising of 11.5 million documents were passed from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The news which will emerge in the coming days comes as a result of a year’s analysis between approximately 400 journalists.

How important are the Panama Papers?

Owing to the sheer scale of the leak and the parties involved, the Panama Papers are said to be the most significant uncovering in off-shore banking history. To put the leak into context, Süddeutsche Zeitung compared the Panama Papers to past leaks.

panama papers

Why are they called the Panama Papers?

The leak comes from a Panama based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, a well known but secretive firm. This suits many of the world’s elite who demand secrecy surrounding their finances. Panamanian banks are prohibited from sharing any information about offshore bank accounts and their subsequent holders. This has attracted many of the world’s elite to hide money they would rather others not know about in Panama.

What is contained within the Panama Papers?

Given the sheer volume of data, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg so far.

We know that Mossack Fonseca have helped clients launder money and evade tax. What has many stunned is both the volume of data and the extent to which well-known people have utilised off-shore accounts. Some of those involved are Vladimir Putin, Lionel Messi and Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko.

Where can I find out more about the Panama Papers?

The internet is the best place to take this all in right now. We’ve pulled together some of the best sources online where you can keep up to date on the very latest breaking news on the leaks.

Panama Papers Twitter Feed


News outlets covering the leak

Süddeutsche Zeitung

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The Guardian

BBC

Le Monde

This are but a few of the outlets leaking information from within the Panama Papers. Our protip is to keep an eye on Twitter and #PanamaPapers.

Review: Eddie the Eagle

Marty
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Review: Eddie the Eagle

When Eddie the Eagle stepped onto the slopes in 1988, little did he know he would become a cult icon. Almost 30 years later, Eddie the Eagle finally has his own movie, but is he going down a slippery slope or is it a soaring success.

The fundamental premise of Eddie the Eagle is one that won’t be foreign to most. Those familiar with Cool Runnings, the story of the Jamaican bobsled team, will definitely create links between the movies. Both focus on the true stories of underdogs and their journeys towards the 1988 Winter Olympics. Eddie the Eagle focusses on British ski jumping cult icon Michael Edwards. Edwards became an international sensation when he became the first competitor to represent Britain in the sport. Here is Edwards’ actual jump in 1988.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MmJIy0bjo

Eddie the EagleTaking some liberties with the truth, the movie gets across the root of the story. Against all odds and the will of the British Olympic Committee, Edwards battled adversity and a general lack of ability to qualify for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The whole story makes for a heart warming underdog story. Lead actor Taron Egerton delivers a great performance of the quirky Eddie the Eagle, forcing the audience to root for him. In fact, during the screening I attended, several audience member applauded and cheered Edwards on.

The film itself delivers  a little something for everyone. There is humour, drama, action and quite a bit of emotion throughout as we follow Eddie the Eagle on his journey. Many at the time felt that Edwards as living out the Olympic dream to its purest form. The movie draws upon a quote from Pierre de Coubertin, responsible for the 1894 revival of the games – “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” Given his distint lack of skill, but massive heart and desire to compete, Eddie the Eagle is the definition of a great underdog story.

Also adding to the experience are some cracking tunes throughout, including Thin Lizzy and Van Halen.

Crowdfunded: ONO – Affordable 3D printing

Jon
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Crowdfunded: ONO – Affordable 3D printing

In the past, we asked if 3D printing would appear in every home. ONO is a sub-€100 3D printer that has me as excited as a child at Christmas, Easter and four years worth of birthday’s rolled into one.

The problem with 3D printing

There are no shortage of “affordable” 3D printers on the market today. Companies such as MakerBot, XYZ Da Vinci and Formlabs are constantly trying to reduce the cost to what small businesses can consider affordable. What if that would become affordable for the general public? Currently, 3D printing is still a little expensive, but ONO has that price tag in its sights.

How ONO solves the problem


ONO is extremely cheap and simple to set up, costing only €100. The ONO is a small box which you slide your phone into. Simply choose the item you wish to print, slip off for a cuppa tae and when you come back, your piece is complete.

That seems a little simple…explain

OLO GIF

The printer consists of three main components. The reservoir, the photopolymer resin and the mechanised top which houses the platform upon which the printing happens and controls the electronics. Your phone sits under some polarised glass here. From here your phone screen lighting up the box allows the polarised glass to arrange photos vertically. The beams of lights are then solidified by the resin. These methods actually removes the requirement of 3D printing, hence the nice big saving.

What does this mean?

The whole idea behind 3D printing is how cheap prototyping costs by using this method of creation. The ONO isn’t going to start a home manufacturing movement, but for €100 it certainly going to destroy some barriers for those a little more hesitant to adopt 3D printing.

It also means that you can get involved for pennies as the ONO is currently available on Kickstarter for €99. We’re going to need a lot of shelves for random printed stuff.

Most popular TV shows

Dean
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Most popular TV shows

Once upon a time all anybody wanted to know about was the best movies, but over the past five or six years the attention has shifted towards the most popular TV shows. Sure we all still love movies and are willing to wait a year or two to find out what happened to our beloved characters in the likes of the Marvel and DC Universes, Star Wars galaxy and Divergent series. However, the quality of TV shows has raised the bar and now puts pressure on Hollywood under to produce amazing high budget films, since they can’t exactly release a new one every week.

We take a look at the most popular TV shows which have begun to take actors and actresses away from the big screen with the small screen taking its place.

House of Cards

most popular tv showsWhile television grows in stature, Netflix has even done its part to change the entertainment landscape. House of Cards, a Netflix Original, is a political drama starring Kevin Spacey takes us through the twists and turns of what it takes to make it through the other end of the dog eat of world that is politics. If the general election or water charges don’t tickle your fancy, this is on a whole other level. A Congressman (Spacey) looks to seek revenge on those in office who betrayed him and in doing so kept him from becoming Secretary of State. With every episode available on Netflix, and no ads to deal with, this could lead to a few House of Cards binges.  With two Golden Globe wins out of five nomination plus numerous Emmy wins year on year since its release, this will draw you in and make you forget about the real world around you for quite some time.

The Leftovers

the best tv showsIn a world where 140 million people, or 2% of the population, suddenly disappear, not go missing overnight, the residents Mapleton New York try to continue living their lives. Three years on, things aren’t quite the way they used to be. Grief and the search for answers causes social divides. Some people join a new cult called The Guilty Remnant where they refuse to speak and just smoke cigarettes non-stop. If you’re looking for a series that’ll make you think and make you say ‘I did not see that coming’, over and over again, you need to see this. With two seasons out and one more on the way, each episode will have you scratching your head and coming back for more. If you do decide to watch this, say goodbye to early nights, because once you start, you’ll need incredible will power to stop.

Orange is the New Black

the best tv showsFollowing the life of Piper Chapman, a woman sentenced to 15 months in prison, this black comedy drama brings together a more or less unknown cast and still manages to keep us interested until it has us addicted. While in prison she is reunited with the friend who named her in court, resulting in her conviction, and also has to deal with other inmates who see her as easy prey. This series is for the people who aren’t interested in Netflix’s dark and gritty dramas and are looking for something a little lighter. With the fourth season on the way, now is a good time to catch up, and similar to House Of Cards, you can enjoy this Netflix Original with no ads, so stock up a mini fridge next to your bed for this one.

The Walking Dead

the best tv showsWho doesn’t like zombies in a post-apocalyptic world? Another show that probably everyone has heard of.  Released in 2010, The Walking Dead is based on the graphic novels written by Robert Kirkman. It follows a band of survivors who are trying desperately to find salvation in a world where there is no longer a Government, Laws, and as the series goes on, Mercy. They don’t only come up against the undead. They also find themselves up against other groups of survivors who were once good men and are now willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Try not to get too attached to characters, no one is safe in this series. It will have you on the edge of your seat, sometimes off it, and possibly have you clutching onto a pillow rocking back and forth over a cliff-hanger you quite frankly did not need in your life.

Game of Thrones

game of thronesWith a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 94% amongst critics, Game of Thrones is easily one of the most popular TV shows. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve heard of it. And if you haven’t seen it, I strongly advise you make it your business to watch it. With various different story lines that intertwine into one big one, about 20 different families with long names, and dragons, this is the series that has dominated the industry since it’s release in 2011. Based on the books written by George R.R. Martin, with an ensemble cast, amazing special effects and battle scenes, it costs about 10 million per episode to shoot. If you have read, or are reading the books, don’t let this stop you. The books are similar in a lot of ways to the series, but seeing as the books won’t be finished for another 10 -15 years, the writers have changed the story a bit to keep up with they’re tighter schedule while also paying respects the books and giving the author some say also. And don’t worry about the makers ruining it like some tend to do with other successful shows in the past. Game of Thrones will be ending after seven series, and they seem like they definitely know what they’re doing.

Honourable mention: The League

league_1If for nothing other than binge-ability, The League boasts seven packed seasons on Netflix. The League follows a group of friends whose foremost priority in life, ahead of family, work and definitely friends, is winning their Fantasy Football league. Winning the league means they bring home Sheeva Trophy, a trophy based off a girl they went to high school with and believe to have god like powers over their league when she makes appearances. That and of course bragging rights.

This series is not just for the lads, anyone will get entertainment from it. They will do pretty much anything to win weekly games against each other and will blackmail each other to trade a player they want if needs be. With diverse characters, you are bound to have a couple of favourites, but you will struggle to find any you don’t like. The kind of series that you can go back and watch over and over again, and one of my favourites on the list, this deserves a good watch.

That’s our take on the most popular TV shows of today. Let us know if you feel we missed anything.

ComReg Report: How are Irish people using their mobiles?

Marty
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ComReg Report: How are Irish people using their mobiles?

Each quarter, the Commission for Communications Regulation, that’s ComReg to me and you, release a Key Data Report. This ComReg report provides great insights into Irish mobile users. We’ve dissected the report to being you the most interests nuggets of info on how the Irish public are using their smartphones.

Average monthly spend

Many are likely to believe they spend too much on their smartphone every month. The truth is the current average monthly cost of running a smart phone has declined significantly since the same period in 2013. Billpay or contracted users have seen the average monthly cost reduce by €5.23 to €34.20 per month. Prepay or pay as you go customers have witnessed their average monthly costs reduce by €1.52 to €14.98 per month. These reductions are due to changing landscapes in the way bundles are offered to customers, including reduced roaming charges and fixed line provider benefits.

Vodafone IrelandCurrently, the Irish marketplace is arguably at it’s most competitive. Following Three’s merger with O2, new networks such as iD Mobile and Virgin Media Mobile were given a stage to play upon, joining several long-standing networks. One such network, Three, have witnessed the initial gains made by Three’s merger with O2  drop off since the same period year previous to the tune of 1.4%, leaving them just slightly short of top spot. Still top dog in the Irish mobile landscape is Vodafone, with 38.7% of the market locked down. As mentioned, Three enjoy 34.9% of the market while eir and Meteor complete the dominating trio with 18.6%. To add some content, the next network provider is Tesco Mobile with 5.8%. While they are still some way off the big dogs, Tesco Mobile does continue to grow steadily.

How are Irish people using their phones?

It’s no big surprise that the way we are using our mobile phones has changed dramatically over the past few years.

SMS and Calls

ComReg report

The most striking statistic from the above graph, grabbed from the ComReg report, is not the most surprising. Mobile phone users tend to only use SMS if they really want to really get a message across; pardon the pun. Either that, or you are texting a parent who spent so long learning SMS they couldn’t be bothered learning WhatsApp. WhatsApp has killed SMS messaging, which shows a 14.8% decline since the same time last year. This comes as no surprise given WhatsApp’s to its international appeal, emojis and rich content sharing.

We’ve already covered how costs are reduced due to the way packages are being bundled together. Networks are generally becoming more generous with their minutes, meaning usage has been steadily increasing in recent years, visible in the same graph above. To further support this, users are now being given more freedom to call people on other networks, seen in the increased off-net call volumes.

Data

Of course, data is one of the most important things for mobile users these days. WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Netflix, the list goes on. Users like their data, but also the quality of their data. With improved packages and improved technology, the Irish market has seen an increase of 38.6% of 4G network users. With the impending introduction of 5G, we’re sure Irish  users are becoming increasingly excited about the potential to do even more on the go.

The report contains even more information that what we’ve gone into here. If you are a bit of a data nerd, or just like knowing who is the most dominant force in the market, the ComReg report is available for you to read over on the ComReg site.

Paperless passports

Jon
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Paperless passports

With the likes of Ryanair now allowing most to check in with digital boarding passes, could paperless passports be the next big step?

paperless-passportTapping your pockets every two minutes on the way to the security area of the airport is an important part of the holiday experience. Then the fear of God passes over you as you frantically check all your pockets and bags in search for the passport you couldn’t find in your pocket. Then you awkwardly hope no-one saw you frantically looking while it was in your hand you the whole time? Cool not just me. We are big fans of the idea that those days could be behind us as the idea of the paperless passport inches itself into reality.

De La Rue are the biggest passport producers in the world. They are currently working on technology that could allow holiday makers to store their passport within their smartphone This could allow you to saunter around the world without fear of losing that priceless little book. Of course you could lose your phone…which is probably equally as bad but look, baby steps.

There are barriers to the introduction of radical technology such as paperless passports. Forgery and the possibility, if not inevitability, of people losing their phone take prime spot. De La Rue admit this is currently in the early stages. In the modern passport there is this little microchip  that can compare the carriers face to the one stored in the passport. In theory, it would be a simple transition to develop this technology within the smartphone by simply embedding the workings of the microchip into the programme rather then merely representing the document on a screen.

Paperless passports seem like the natural progression. At the same time, I’ve seen so many people stand at the self-service area of Dublin Airport’s border patrol, baffled by technology to the point they believe entering the country is too difficult.

Gear VR review: The next platform

Marty
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Gear VR review: The next platform

Virtual reality was once a futuristic arcade experience that interested few, but with the emergence of the Samsung Gear VR, has that changed?

Virtual reality – The next platform

Gear-VRThe Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge might not look hugely different from it predecessor, but the handset has seen an approximate 250% increase in sales. Samsung have successfully refined what was a popular handset into one of the best in the world. At the annual Samsung Unpacked event, the South Korean manufacturer went beyond introducing the world to the latest flagship handsets. In a guest appearance, Mark Zuckerberg went into detail surrounding his believe that virtual reality is the next platform, while announcing free Samsung Gear VR headsets for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge pre-order customers.

Defining virtual reality as the next platform was promote the partnership between Samsung and Facebook, the latter also owning Oculus, part of the team behind the Samsung Gear VR. Combined with the Samsung Gear 360, a virtual reality camera, Samsung, Facebook and Oculus have indeed created an attractive platform. What completes the successful foundations upon which this platform is built upon is the consumer friendly Samsung Gear VR.

Samsung Gear VR – The positives

Quality

What struck me about the Samsung Gear VR is the premium quality of the device itself and the experience it delivers. The device itself is extremely comfortable to wear owing to a nice foam surround and multiple pointed head strap. There is no light leak that I’ve experienced yet, likely down to the fact this is designed to fit particular handsets. Light leak can destroy a VR experience and is literally when light enters the device through some sort of gap.

There are plenty of intelligent features which add to the experience, including a micro USB port to charge your device while in use and a touch pad which is near your right temple. The touch pad will feel a little unnatural to begin with, but will become second nature.

Finally, there is a space for you to plug in headphones and go completely immersive.

The experience

This is where the Samsung Gear VR dominates. The overall experience is amazing. If you pop on headphones, you are practically guaranteed to get completely lost in whatever world you choose to explore. We have one top tip for testing how immersive an experience is. Wave your hand in front of your face when wearing the Gear VR and gauge just how weird it is you cannot see your hand.

When looking around, the Gear VR uses the sensors within your Samsung handset to move your view within the virtual world. Certain apps will let you make choices by starting at something long enough, while others require input from either the touch pad or an additional controller (sold separately).

Affordable

Straight to the point on this one. Samsung have created what is an extremely affordable virtual reality solution. At just €99, users of select Samsung devices can enjoy a completely immersive virtual reality experience. Once you have paid for the headset, you can enjoy virtual reality without any additional cost (though there are premium apps).

The idea here is that the most expensive part of the virtual reality experience is the computing and display source. By utilising smartphones such as the Galaxy and Note range, Samsung and Oculus have overcome the biggest obstacle to adoption; cost.

Samsung Gear VR – The negatives

Non-Samsung devices

If you are an iPhone user or one of the devices not listed on the Samsung site, you can’t use the Gear VR. It’s specifically designed to work with a select list of handsets. There are other solutions on the market, but this divide between Oculus powered apps and non-Oculus apps is likely to require overcoming before virtual reality can take another step forward.

Oculus Store is not cheap

Oculus StoreWhile the apps in the Oculus Store are brilliant and largely of immense quality, they come at a price. Save for the few freebies (with Sisters being perhaps the most fun), some of the most popular apps cost between €2.99 and €9.99, meaning you can run up a bill pretty quick.

They can fog up and you might need a controller

The Gear VR headset has fogged up a few times we’ve used it. This can effectively ruin the experience. Certain games will require a controller too. The reason we put these two things together is that you can overcome these problems with two simple purchases. Cat Crap is a great anti-fog spray you can order via Amazon UK. The latter problem can be solved by ordering yourself a wireless controller for Android, also available on Amazon UK – read our guide to ordering from Amazon UK).

Samsung Gear VR – the verdict

Samsung could have gotten away with charging €150 for the Gear VR and still had everybody recommend it as being great value. The fact they didn’t, shows how serious they are about getting one of these devices into every compatible phone users home. The quality of the device and the overall experience make this one of the best purchases you will make. Don’t think this is just for tech heads either. Anyone who has one of the compatible devices needs to get one of these headsets and play around with it.

Things we hate about modern day media sites

Marty
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0
Things we hate about modern day media sites

While we are a media site ourselves and don’t claim to be perfect, there are several trends emerging from the Irish media scene that’s bugging the hell out of us. You’ve probably spotted them already, but please allow us to rant on your behalf.

Click bait sponsored content

Joe Click BaitThere is an awful smell of desperation and lack of journalistic pride in sites that have sponsored click bait content at the bottom of their articles. The headlines are engineered to make you click them where you’ll time-travel to old style websites with large red font’s telling you how a Dublin man broke a world record losing weight. You’ll eventually be brought to some awful and more than likely unregulated diet pill website; just to add the the levels of evil that this content offers.

Joe.ie have put a very special and particularly horrible twist on this type of content. You’ll find this kind of content on a lot of big time websites, including Sky Sports and Independent.ie, but they title the section “Promoted Articles”. Joe.ie try to pass these god awful click baited traps as other news “From around the World” or “Popular Elsewhere”. Of course, these goes for SportsJoe and Her.ie too, obviously from the same modern day online red top equivalent of news outlets. Below is an amazing example of the junk you’ll find on Her.ie.

Just look at that transgender article. You just can’t resist click it can you. You can feel it deep in your gut…you want to click it, don’t you…go on just a little click…

Her.ie Click Bait

Interstitial advertising

interstitial ad gifSeriously, if you have anything to do with interstitial ads I can only assume you also support Donald Trump and pull into yellow boxes, blocking up entire junctions. Guess what, Joe.ie and the rest of their stable are top of the pile when it comes to these ads, with reputable news sources such as Independent.ie also sacrificing the experience of their readers for such ads. The reason is unfortunately obvious. There is usually a slight delay between your page loading and the ad coming on, so naturally, as you being to scroll the ad pops up and you hit it. The websites makes a few cents, you get annoyed and the company paying for the ad thinks they’re great for getting loads of traffic, even though they’re really just annoying people.

But at least they have that little “x” to close it right? Wrong. You have more chance of winning a fluffy bear from those crane vending machines than successfully closing one of these ads. Don’t get us wrong, we have ads on our site, but they are around the periphery so as not to annoy or interfere with readers.

Video pre-rolls

This is a specific one that needs some explaining. We can live with YouTube ads as they don’t happen too often and you can generally skip them after five seconds. Hell, sometimes they’re even entertaining. On the other hand, take the likes of Sky Sports. After you’re team wins or loses, it would be nice to catch that one minute interview the manager gives right? Wrong! Sky Sports want you to sit through a 30 second video before every single clip you watch. Want to watch five videos? Prep yourself for five thirty second ads.

Sites with auto-play ads

This one is self explanatory. If I land on a website, I only want to hear video if I click something. None of your autoplay stuff please thanks.

Slideshow websites

Slideshow sitesTop ten ways to tone your arse. Top seven ways to get that guy in the office to notice you. Top eight ways to annoy people who visit your website. We’ve seen them all and we’re sure you have too. These are the sites that seem to have something really interesting for you, but then you get there and have to click through a slideshow-eqsue presentation thing and ads in between to boot.

These sites come about so the people behind it can boast low bounce rate (that’s people leaving after just one page view) and used to be a way to make their site look better in Google search rankings. All about the money! Understandable, but at the same time, makes websites look like gutters and ruins the user experience.

These are the main ones that make me die a little inside on a daily basis. If we missed anything, drop us a message or if we do anything god awful, please tell us.

 Update:

We’ve just caught up on some South Park we’ve recorded and wouldn’t you know it. Nail meet head.

iPhone SE Ireland: What you need to know…

Marty
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iPhone SE Ireland: What you need to know…

Apple have just announced the iPhone SE, which they claim to be the most powerful 4-inch phone ever.

Quite some time ago, we brought you what the rumour mill was churning out regarding this demi-flagship, but have Apple created what the demand seeks or are they simply using some left over parts?iPhone SE Models

iPhone SE design

The biggest talking point of the iPhone SE is the 4-inch screen. Prior to the device’s announcement, many, ourselves included, had dubbed the demi-flagship as the iPhone 5SE. This is forgiveable considering the remarkable resemblance between the two handsets, most notably the 4-inch screen size.

The new par for the course is an all aluminium body, but new to the Apple iPhone SE are chamfered edges. Indeed, chamfered edges could be the latest must have trend in handset design since the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Apple set themselves aside from Samsung with a wider colour range, now inluding Silver, Gold, Space Grey and Rose Gold.

iPhone SE Colours

While nothing in the design specifically sets the iPhone SE aside from the iPhone 5S, what you get on the inside is quite a step up.

iPhone SE camera

Most exciting for those who have an iPhone 5S but haven’t upgraded due to the latest flagships being too big, is likely to be the camera upgrades. Instead of the 8MP camera Apple refused to get rid of for so long in the smaller handsets, the iPhone SE boasts a 12MP camera capable of shooting 4K video. While the selfie camera (Apple call it the Facetime Camera) shoots in HD, it’s only 1.2MP. This might be a strategic move to keep the popularity of Facetime going with smoother streaming.

Some of the latest camera software upgrades which emerged alongside the iPhone 6s have also come along with the iPhone SE. The best known of these is Live Photos, where the device captures a moment before and after your shot giving you those Harry Potter-esque moving photos. However, they do take up quite a bit of memory, double a standard image, meaning with no expandable memory, you might be best opting for the biggest memory option.

iPhone SE memory

As always, there is no expandable memory option with the iPhone SE. Instead, Apple opted for 16GB and 64GB memory variants, with the later being substantially more expensive, costing €499 and €599 respectively.

iPhone SE power

A 1642 mAh battery powers the iPhone SE, which by comparison is a small battery in the grand world of flagships. It is important to note that Apple often to have lower capacity batteries which they get the most out of from their efficient processors. The iPhone SE should give you about 13 hours 4G usage.

While the processors add to improved battery life, they also provide ammunition for Apple to allay iPhone SE and iPhone 5S comparisons.

iPhone SE and iPhone 5S

The iPhone SE boasts CPU performance akin to that of the iPhone 6S, considerably faster than the iPhone 5S. Similarly, the GPU also matches the lastest fully fledge Apple flagship, three times faster than the iPhone 5S. This is achieved through the utilisation of the A9 chip.

iPhone SE Ireland: Price

Initial pricing with Apple states the 16GB model will set you back €499 while the 64GB model will cost €599. Many had hoped the pricing would be even lower, but alas Apple are again out to make a buck.

You should expect to get the iPhone SE free on a €55 a month, 24 month contract with Three. Vodafone are likely to match this, with Meteor offering the same monthly option for €99 up front. While these are all estimates, Three are likely to offer the best overall package.iPhone SE GIF

iPhone SE Ireland: Launch date

The Irish launch date for new handsets is always a guessing game. The Apple website currently stated you may order the iPhone SE from March 29th, which suggests a very early April general sale.

iPhone SE: Verdict

Ultimately, this isn’t as cheap as the iPhone 5C was when it was launched, nor does the iPhone SE have the colourful appeal set the iPhone 5C aside. The iPhone SE is a premium handset purely aimed at those who don’t want big phones. Is bigger always better? Time will tell.

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