gadgets

As we grow increasingly reliant on our laptops, tablets and mobiles, it also means they become increasingly vulnerable to theft. We take them with us everywhere–travelling overseas, to the local coffee shop, or just out and about in our handbags. One careless moment, or one daring thief, is all it takes to lose that thousand-dollar laptop, or those priceless holiday snaps or personal documents.

One of the most effective ways to protect your devices from theft is by the use of tracking software. These are apps you install on your laptop, phone or tablet, which allow you to log in online and not only view your laptop’s location, but depending on the app, you can also lock the device, delete all information, or remotely activate features such as the camera or webcam. They run in the background, so you don’t even notice they’re there–until you need them, of course.

Here’s a quick look at two of the most popular device tracking apps out there today.

Prey – The free and simple solution

prey screenshot

Prey is free, and installs on just about any device. You will also need to create an account with Prey, which you link your devices to. Once installed, you can manage your linked devices. Once you mark a device as missing, Prey will collect the following information from your device on a regular basis: geo-location using the device’s GPS (if available), and any network information such as IP addresses which can also help locate the device. It will even attempt to photograph the thief if the device has a webcam!

The online dashboard also lets you perform certain actions at will, such as setting off an alarm to locate your device (very handy for those who are always misplacing their phones!). You can also send alerts to the device that pop up messages and change the wallpaper, hide the app icon so thieves don’t know its installed, and remotely lock your phone.

The free version allows you to track up to three devices on one account. You can upgrade to the Pro version from $5 a month, which will give you access to additional features (the higher plans also allow you to track more devices on one account).

Absolute LoJack – The “sit back and let someone handle it” solution

LoJack is similar to Prey, though it provides less user-options. You can locate, lock and erase files remotely, and that’s about it. So why use it, you might ask?

Well, the difference with LoJack is that they have a specialised recovery team. Once you report your device missing, they take over. Where Prey and similar software will help you find and identify the person, LoJack will have people hunt it down for you and return it–no vigilante justice or protracted campaigns with the police required.

They also have what they call “persistence technology”, where on certain devices, they can continue to track it even if everything is erased or the hard drive replaced.

Of course, this comes at a cost. LoJack starts at $49 a year for laptops, and $39 a year for tablets and phones.

There are many other device tracking software out there, such as Laptop Cop, Android Device Manager, Find my iPhone, or Hidden. Do you use any such software? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

featured photo: Divine Harvester

Perhaps you’ve heard of the term hyper-connectivity. This is a relatively new term, generally used to talk about how we’re connected not only person-to person, but person-to-machine and machine-to-machine. It almost sounds Matrix-like, but it’s a very real thing that’s happening in our lives right now.

Technology all around us

With the recent release of iOS8, the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well as many Android devices, technology is now being woven into every waking minute of our day.

The new Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Gear and other watches are integrating more phone-like characteristics. Most will only work with our smartphones or mobile devices. So not only do we have a pared-down phone on our wrists, but we also have to keep our mobiles nearby, making it much more difficult to disconnect.

With each new update to the operating systems, there is a closer integration with our daily activities. For example, the Apple iHealth Kit and Home Kit means that not only will you be able to monitor your daily health stats via your mobile, but also control more aspects of operating your home (home kit). The prices of these applications/accessories means that they will be available for more consumers rather than only a luxury item. It’s not hard to imagine that they’ll be common before long.

Is wearable tech taking over our lives?

I currently own a FitBit © which I love using daily. For me, it has made me much more active (and no I haven’t given it up after 6 months). I have noticed like with any new gadget, there becomes several new habits that weren’t there before (and not always habits I would have predicted).

My FitBit © is programmed to have an silent alarm for each morning. Each day is different depending on what activities I have regularly planned. If I forget to put the FitBit back onto my wrist, it will still vibrate and go off (meaning I have to still get out of bed to stop it from beeping).

When it’s charging, not having it with me becomes in inconvenience. I love that I get an email from FitBit saying that the battery is low, but often leave it to the last minute. This means that I am not wearing the FitBit whilst going for a morning walk or exercise (hence not measuring steps/sleep which then I want to make up to my magic ‘10,000 steps a day’).

It also affects my life when I’m wearing it. I went for a bike ride the other day, and was disappointed that my step count wasn’t as high–even though I had completed 45 mins of exercise.

Currently with the FitBit © Flex, there is no way to gauge EXACTLY how many steps, km’s or calories you have burned, unless you sync it to your mobile device or laptop. This means at the moment I will check in on my mobile several times a day (I can tap on my Flex and it will tell me roughly how many steps I am up to – each dot is represented via 2,000 steps which is my daily goal). It also means at night time I have noticed I become a little OCD in making sure I get all the elements coloured green (hit the daily target, such as 10,000 steps, 8.05km, 2,184 calories or 30 minutes of active exercise).

My sleeping habits aren’t the best, so I only glance at these figures perhaps once a week.

Balancing connectivity

This experience has show me how difficult it can be to disconnect from your mobile devices, especially if they are connected to other things such as a smart watch or fitness device. These days, I have finally stopped checking the results of my exercise every waking moment, and just usually check at night time to see how much exercise I’ve done.

As for other wearable technology, I would love an Apple Watch but my biggest concern would be how many extra pieces of technology I’d be relying on to complete simple everyday tasks. The FitBit © already impacts so many aspects of my life–I can’t imagine what would happen with a smartwatch!

But in the end, only time will tell the impacts of these gadgets on our lives.

Featured image: HasinHayder

Megan Iemma

Technology Coach and “IT” girl Megan Iemma is a thought leader in the world of technology and its uses. An educator and techno geek, Megan combined her passions for education and technology and founded Tech Coach HQ working with businesses and their teams to improve processes and embrace the productivity technology has to offer.

As wearable technology is becoming increasingly common, one of the areas that’s been of the most interest to technology companies is the smartwatch. The Pebble started rolling, and it wasn’t long before the big mobile companies decided to get on board as well. Here’s a quick overview of the more popular smartwatches currently out there… and one that’s soon to come!

The Pebble

pebble

Ah, the Pebble. It started with a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, and was one of the first real contenders in the smartwatch category.

Pros: Uses an e-ink screen, so it can go up to 7 days on a single charge and is also easy to view in sunlight
Has a standard 22mm watch band, so you can change them up at any store.
Works with both iOS and Android

Cons: Has less features than many other smartwatches–no camera or microphone, fitness tracking, or colour screens (though to some, that may be a pro!)
Large and rectangular design might not suit smaller wrists
Limited smartphone integration–dependent on developers creating specific Pebble apps

Android Wear watches

Galaxy Gear

As Android grows in popularity, many smartphone companies have also released their own takes on smartwatches based on Android Wear—Samsung Galaxy Gear, Sony Smartwatch, LG G. Note that the Samsung watches generally need to be paired with Samsung smartphones (Samsung Galaxy Gear pictured above). However, in most cases, the feel is similar–it simply comes down to the design you prefer.

Pros: Full Android integration–you can view notifications for all apps on your Android phone, and some apps will also provide additional features
Full colour screen
Additional features such as camera and microphone, fitness tracking, etc.

Cons: Battery life runs out much faster–generally needs to be recharged daily
Large and rectangular design might not suit smaller wrists, and some people find it uncomfortable to wear
Some watches may only pair with specific phones, and all will only work with Android phones (sorry iPhone users!)

Moto 360

Moto 360 Dynamic Black

This is also an Android Wear watch, but I’m calling it out for its striking looks. Specific pros are the distinctly watch-like look and the round screen. Specific cons are that sometimes notifications are cut off because Android Wear is designed for rectangular screens, and battery life is about 12 hours at best.

Apple Watch

apple-watch

It’s no surprise that this is the watch that has everyone talking. Though yet to be released, it looks to be yet another trendsetter, but this time in the smartwatch space. Whether you love or hate Apple, this watch has a distinct look and feel. There’s also different ways of interacting via touch, and a nifty side dial that’s a throwback to classic watches, yet used in a very modern way. Until it’s released, we won’t know its pros and cons for sure… but it’s certainly one to look out for!

Of course, it’s only available for iPhone users.

Do you use any smartwatches? Love them? Hate them? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Featured image: pestoverde

Leanne Yong

The time has come. Your old smartphone has given up the ghost, or perhaps your contract is up for renewal. Time to buy a new one. But the market is saturated with smartphones these days. Phone manufacturers like to throw a lot of terms at you, talking about how their mobile is faster, or quad-core, or has a 20-megapixel camera, and so on and so forth. It can get confusing very quickly!

I’m not going to discuss iPhones here – there’s only so many choices you have when it comes to those!

The most important thing is to assess your priorities. What are you looking for in a smartphone? This will generally fall into one of a few categories. One thing to note is that for all the talk about one phone or another performing better and getting better benchmark results for its processing speed and memory, you will hardly notice those numbers in day-to-day use. Most phones are based off similar processors–it’s the items below that count.

Price

What is your budget? A company’s flagship smartphone with all the bells and whistles will cost anywhere around $600 to $800 dollars. If you’re willing to settle for a last-gen phone (that is, their flagship from the previous year), you can get it down around the $400 to $500 range. To be super-thrifty, there’s also the very basic smartphones you’ll see being sold at Woolworths and Coles (supermarkets in Australia) for anywhere between $40 to $100. They’ll make calls and allow you to do basic internet browsing, but aren’t great for much else.

Then again, price may not be an issue at all, in which case, you can simply pick the phone that best suits your needs from the other categories.

Battery Life

As manufacturers pack more and more technology into their smartphones, it also means this technology requires more power. And this can suck your smartphone dry before you even get home from work! Don’t trust what manufacturers claim the battery life to be. This is normally done under ideal conditions where they can squeeze every last minute out of the battery. Just because a smartphone is newer doesn’t mean it has better battery life, either! Some phones have so many features, the battery actually runs out far quicker than the competition.

GSMArena has a fantastic little tool that compares the battery life of most recent smartphones. You can set how long you normally spend on calls, browsing the web, and watching videos each day, and it will give you an estimate of how long you can expect the phone to last, as well as a comparison to other phones.

This may be an important factor to you if you work (or relax) somewhere with no easy access to a power point. But if you work at a desk and your leisure time is mainly spent around the house, it might not matter much at all.

Screen Size

What kind of screen size are you after? A large one to better browse the web and watch videos with? Or a smaller one where you can easily reach across the screen with your thumb for ease of one-handed typing?

Then again, perhaps it’s all the same to you–just as long as you can check your emails and hold the phone to your ear without looking too stupid, it doesn’t matter.

Camera

Lots of megapixels does not necessarily mean good photos. Most phones will be able to take decent photos in daylight. And if the main purpose of your photos is for social media such as Facebook or Instagramming, almost any mid-range smartphone will do just fine.

You only really need to consider the camera if you intend to take a lot of low-light photos, or use it as your main point-and-click camera. Even then, most phones still can’t stand up to a decent camera once the lights go down. Look for ones with big sensors, and check for reviews that compare photos taken by different phones.

(Protip: Typing “<Phone 1> vs <Phone 2>” into Google works wonders. As does using the word “shootout”.)

Storage

If you’re someone who loves loading music and videos onto your phone (or maybe you just take a lot of them!) check if the phone has a slot for an external SD card. Without one, most phones only go up to about 32 or 64GB – and you’ll pay for every extra bit of space. Also, some phones can take up to 7GB (!) of space with the operating system and default applications that can’t be removed.

So if you’re a happy snapper or movie fiend, consider carefully if you should find a phone with an SD card slot instead. They’re much cheaper and easily expandable if you find you really need that extra space.

Other Features

Perhaps you love listening to music from your phone’s speakers. Perhaps you want to be able to write accurately on your phone with a stylus. Or perhaps you simply want a gorgeous, super high-definition screen. Weigh all these ‘wishlist’ items up carefully, and determine how important they are to you. It’s very likely you’ll have to sacrifice something else you want–the camera quality, perhaps, or the screen size–to get it. Think about how much you’d really use those features, because while they may seem nifty at first, the shine wears off quickly. Would it be an important part of your daily routine? Or just a nice-to-have?

Once you have your priorities ordered, then go forth and search for the phones most highly ranked in your top two categories. You can then decide what sacrifices you’re willing to make in the other categories, and go from there!

How did you choose your current smartphone? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

photo credit: sinkdd

Being a ‘geek girl’ I love using technology to motivate me for my daily exercise. Having a FitBit has really made a difference in being active every day, especially when often I am sitting working at my computer or iPad. With the advent of wearable technology, you can now collect data as you exercise and send it to apps such as My Fitness Pal, Map My Run, or whatever your app of choice happens to be!

Below is a quick round-up of some of the wearable technology available for various sports.

Multi-use Devices

moov

Looking for wearable tech that can track more than one sport/activity? Moov is being released in spring 2014 and at the bargain pre-order price of $79.95, although it will go up to $120 when it’s released. It covers five different workouts: running, weight training, cardio boxing, swimming, and biking. It’s a nice alternative to most of the existing wearable tech is that it is only focused on one sport, such as running or cycling.

Swimming

pyle

When I used to train 3-4 times a week–often swimming at least 2 kilometres a training session–the biggest problem that I had was boredom. I love music at the best of times and being able to listen to music would have definitely made training much easier. Pyle audio has released waterproof neckband headphones that can store and play up to 4GB of music. It also comes with 3 x waterproof earbuds and 3 x land based ear buds to change over when needed.

Hiking (or Tramping, for the Kiwis!)

SPOTGen3_45Degree_edited-hr

One of my family friend’s sons had to activate a EPIRB (Digital Radiobeacon) in winter last year after falling out of a whitewater raft while down the Franklin River in Southern Tasmania. They had to be rescued by helicopter as the location was so remote. It was a lucky thing for both of them that they had this device and were able to activate it.

Another friend of mine who lives on the South Island, NZ who does a lot of hiking (or tramping, if you prefer) also uses a GPS Satellite Messenger. He had to activate his after a snowstorm swept through one of the places that they were walking through, and was promptly rescued. Often, you don’t realise technology can save lives until you know someone whose life has been saved!

Running

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photo credit: robpegoraro

My aim for 2014/2015 is to set a goal for some running (and actually doing a Fun Run) so something like the Magellan Echo watch would work really well. This particular smartwatch syncs with other great apps such as Map My Run, Wahoo, iSmooth Run and iMobile Intervals. I also love that it can be also bought with a matching heart rate monitor for those who are serious about their cardiac workouts or running.

Skiing

While researching for this article, I came across the Recon Engage, which looks like an amazing product. This is following on from the footsteps of Google Glasses with information being viewed out from a pair of eyewear (in this case, customised Ski googles). With this product you can see where you went during your run (map) , the images during the ski run, who you were with and more, alongside key performance stats. All this information is overlaid on Google Maps.

What sort of wearable technology do you own? Does it encourage you to exercise? Would you wear wearable clothing? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Featured Image: Stephan Geyer

This week, Megan Iemma continues her ‘Technology Around the Home series’, covering new and upcoming technology for your study and lounge.

Being the ‘geek girl’ in our house, I am always browsing through websites and catalogues to keep abreast of the latest innovations. This doesn’t mean I can buy them all – in fact we still have my husband’s grandfather’s television (One of those large boxes circa 1998)!

I think the biggest trend for technology in your study and lounge areas is increasingly automated and interconnected products, especially via your mobile devices.

Mounts for your devices (iPad or Android Tablets)

twelvesouth_hoverbar_hanging_hires

There is nothing worse when working with your tablet, than having it sit flat on the table, where in reality you need it at the height of your computer monitor. There are two types of products on the market where this can make a difference.

There are stand alone mounts for your device (mounted to a flat surface). These can be adapted for both Android or iOS and should allow you to charge your device at the same time. More specific products such as the Belkin Express Dock are specifically designed to hold your iPad in a portrait mode.

There are also mounts that can be attached to your desktop monitor, such as the HoverBar3. You can even use it in your kitchen, as it clips onto any surface up to 1 inch thick and comes with 3 clips.

Smart Plugs

wemo

There are some fantastic products on the market that help automate your lighting, heating and appliances. An example of this is the WeMo Switch. It plugs into your power point and can monitor energy use (great for heaters in winter), turn devices on and off (think television for saving power) and help prevent your devices from overheating. Everything is controlled from an app on your smartphone.

The Power of Great Sound

Photographers | We Are The Rhoads | Chris & Sarah Rhoads Client: Bose

Like with any entertainment area or lounge, great sound is a must. I have a sound system where my iPod Touch lives (and charges) which plays my music. When looking for products that can stream your music, also look for apps that integrate with these devices so you won’t need an extra remote control.

Speakers that use Bluetooth or AirPlay are standard, but find speakers that can charge a device if necessary. I would love a Bose SoundTouch™ 20 Wi-Fi ® Music System as it would allow me to stream my music via our Wi-Fi system (via iTunes) and Internet Radio.

Wishlist items (yet to be released in Australia)

Cube Sensors

cubesensors_hires_1cube_gramophone

This product helps you to understand how your home or office is affecting your health, comfort and productivity. You place one cube in each room and they monitor the following: air quality, temperature, humidity, noise, light, pressure. Shake them, and they glow, identifying the ‘health’ of the room. Of course, there is the smartphone/tablet integration which you can access from any web browser to see the status and make a change.

Smartthings Hub and App

smartthings-devices-2

Like with many of the devices we are using, it is great to simplify, rather than having one remote or app for each appliance or device. This is a hub which connects to different appliances from different companies and controls them via a Hub. There is then one app to control each of these appliances from the Hub dashboard. It is available for both Android and iOS.

As more products are developed, there will be greater collaboration between companies to innovate and invent products that will communicate and respond via home automation. At the moment, cost is a factor as most appliances require an individual device for each separate room of the house, making it more expensive to set these systems up. Until then, I suppose will just have to remember to turn the heater on when I get home.

What technology do you use and love in your lounge and study? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Featured Image: PetitPlat – Stephanie Kilgast