By Sandra Quinn
Now that the Christmas period is over and we are all back to work and the normal routines have resumed, people are finally (well this writer is anyway) getting time to play around with all of the tech toys they got under the tree or in their stockings (and before you think it or say it, nobody is too old for a stocking).
Here is a list of my favourite toys with a few of the pros and cons;
– The Samsung S8 smartphone (not the Edge). This is on my February wish list, as my S6 is dying a death, but I have heard great reports about the S8, its ability to store more stuff and it also copes very well with how much internet use different apps consume It is also a nice size and not very different in functionality to what I am used to with my steedy (not so much now) Samsung S6.
– A tiny 64GB USB (and I mean tiny, like the size of a one Euro coin, but rectangular in shape).This is fantastic, it fits onto a keyring, but I think it’s too fragile for that and it stores so much, while also coming in different colours and being a great portable storage device.
– A nifty box-shaped LED bluetooth speaker, which charges on a USB charger on the wall and delivers great sound, lights up in different colours, while also being quite portable.
– A tripod for a smart phone, which adjusts to the size of a phone. This is fantastic for my family, as we take a group photo (there are seven children, plus grandchildren and partners, so quite a big group squashed onto our three-seater couch, two armchairs and spaces in between) every Christmas.
Every other year, this has involved balancing a phone on a counter or shelf, putting it onto a timer and hoping for the best, while also wasting about half an hour. This year with the tripod (a gift to my sister from her thoughtful and tech savvy husband) it took a few seconds and the first picture was the winner.
I hope this list gives you some ideas of a few nifty things, maybe for next year or perhaps as little presents to yourself – you’ve worked hard and you deserve it.
All the best for 2018, from all of the team in Horizon Globex, both in our University of Limerick office and from around the globe.