Technology Category Archive

Top Christmas tech 2011

10 Replies Christopher Roberts

What is your favourite bit of tech from 2011 that will be making its way onto your Christmas list? That is if you don’t already have it!

This year has been a really busy one for the tech industry, it would seem that every year, the technology industry gains more pace and steams on ahead. For a great example of this look at cloud computing, this is an industry that has been around and major for less than 5 years, yet it is also an industry that has exploded.

Out of this industry, new firms like SugarSync and Rackspace have emerged, proving to be very profitable. In addition to this, existing firms like Google and Amazon have widened their inventory with the likes of the Chromebook and Amazon’s Web Services.

So, back to the topic in hand…

This year has seen the launch of the iPhone 4 and later the iPhone 4S, LG’s and Panasonic’s new HD and 3D TV sets, the iPad 2, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Chromebooks, Nintendo’s 3DS, the 6th generation of the iPod Nano, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the HTC Sensation 4G, and many many more bits of cool tech.

Google Chromebook, Amazon Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Apple iPhone 4, Nintendo 3DSThe thing is which is the best? Which tops your Christmas list?

Given the chance I would love to at least try all of the above, but that’s not going to happen for one simple reason: money. The value of all the new bits of tech released this year mentioned above, is probably around the £5,000 mark, meaning that the average Joe is not going to be able to afford them all. This leads me onto another question, which is best value for money?

I have heard a lot of praise for the Kindle, as being very good value for money, whilst a lot of bad PR surrounding the 3D TV’s mentioned.

So, the questions. What’s your favourite, and why? Which do you think best value for money and do you want any for Christmas?

Hopefully next year with a bit of growth, we will be able to have a competition to win some/all of the above! Stick with it 😉

Smart Meters are the future for your home electricity

15 Replies Christopher Roberts

This is a sponsored post on behalf of British Gas. To find out more about sponsored content on Technology Bloggers, please visit our Privacy Policy.

Smart meters are a clever new technology, that can help to improve the way your energy usage is monitored and recorded, but many people know very little about this new bit of tech.

Smart Meters

Smart meters are a technology that are transforming our understanding of energy, and how we use it. What they allow you to do is to work out how much energy you are using, and on what, much better than ever before.

Smart meters measure gas and electricity usage in your home, by replacing your old electricity and gas meter, with an all new one.

For more information, watch this useful British Gas video about smart meters 🙂

The Benefits

This new energy meter allows you to see much easier how much electricity you are using, due to their handy in-home display, which puts you in control  of your energy.

Thanks to smart meters you can see in real time how much energy you are using. You can check this on its user friendly energy monitor, either online or through our smartphone app. So if you have your kettle and TV on and you are using 1KW, then you know what those appliances use.

According to British Gas this gives you the potential to reduce your bills by around a fantastic 10%!  This is because thanks to smart meters, you can see what energy you are using, and therefore can start to make small changes to use less and save money on your bills.

Another handy thing about smart meters is that they report wireless, so there is no longer a need (or the hassle!) for you or an engineer to take readings. Furthermore, the readings sent will now be 100% accurate, for total piece of mind.

Installation

In the UK British Gas are aiming to provide smart meters in all homes in the near future – meaning that everyone can benefit from this new technology.

British Gas's Corporate LogoThey are starting the roll out now, with 120,000 homes in the UK already having a smart meter. This will grow to around 1.5million by the end of 2012.

Because they are so useful, the UK government has mandated that all households will need to have smart meters installed by 2019.

British Gas have already started to introduce smart meters to homes across the UK, in order to make sure that we are ready in time for 2019.

When your home is ready for an upgrade, British Gas will contact you and their highly trained Smart Energy Experts will change your meters, and explain how to use your energy display and save on your bills.

Head over to British Gas’s website and Facebook page to find out more about smart meters and how you can get yours installed!

What do you think about the new meters which could save you money? Do you have any questions on anything I haven’t covered about smart meters?

Understanding iCloud

9 Replies victor

The latest release in the cloud computing world, and the replacement for Apple’s old MobileMe service is Apple iCloud. The new software is designed to work seamlessly between various apple hardware such as iPods, Apple laptops and desktops, and the iPad. There are several applications available with the iCloud software, ranging from ‘Find my Device’, which allows an internet connected device such as the iPhone to be remotely tracked, to Photo Stream, which makes ‘streamed’ photos available on any connected device.

The first, Find My Device, was initially a MobileMe application, which has been migrated to the iCloud software package. Using the service, a user can view the rough location of their device over-layed on a scalable map of the area, as well as a circle indicating the margin of error on the tracking. Along with remote tracking, the program also allows the user to change the password, display a message on the device, or play a sound (even if it is set to silent). A final feature of the program makes use of the cloud storage technology and allows the user to temporarily delete the contents of the device, storing them to the cloud server until told to return to their original location.

Computing from the cloud

Not quite cloud computing!

Photo Stream directly utilizes the cloud storage technology to share pictures between devices. When a picture is taken from an iphone with Photo Stream enabled, the picture will automatically be uploaded to the cloud server, where it will be available to any of the user’s other Photo Stream enabled machines. According to Apple, the service will soon be integrated with their Apple TV box, which would allow users to view any pictures in icloud on TVs connected to Apple TV.

While only currently available in the US, iTunes Match is one of the most popular uses for the virtual computing abilities of the iCloud software. iTunes Match allows users to ‘scan’ their music in any compatible device (even if the music is not purchased from iTunes), and upload it to the iCloud virtual servers, ready to be downloaded to any of the user’s other Apple products in a DRM free format.

‘Back To My Mac’ and iOS Backup are two more erstwhile MobileMe program migrated to the iCloud package. The first is essentially a remote access program, allowing the user to remotely log into any device with the same Apple ID and the program active. The second is a backup program, which allows the user to back up the data and settings on their device to the virtual servers, and restore the device or access the data remotely as needed.

While the iCloud software is very slim as far as system resources, it requires a fairly current OS to run properly. Creating an account requires iOS 5 or later, or for desktops, OSX Lion. For PCs, Windows Vista or later is required to properly sync. iCloud can also sync to Outlook 7 or later for calendars and contact info.

The cost of the iCloud software varies with the amount of services the user chooses to sign up for. Data storage starts at 5 gigabytes free, and added storage can be purchased in increments of ten gigabytes, for $20 per ten gigabytes per year. At the moment, the maximum storage amount available is 50 gigabytes, however Apple has said it is possible for that to go up in the future. Apart from storage costs, the iTunes Match service is a yearly fee of $25.

With the iCloud software, Apple has taken full advantage of the evolving cloud storage technology to bring a wide variety of programs to Apple users, and an increased connectivity between Apple hardware.