Avoid a cracked screen with airbags for your phone!

We have all been there- that slow-motion, heart-sinking moment as your phone drops onto hard ground and the inevitable feeling of doom as you check what the damage is. Well what if you didn’t need to worry?

But The Daily Mail reported recently that inventors have devised an unlikely answer to one of modern life’s most expensive little mishaps – an airbag for your smartphone.

Motion-sensing technology already built into most smartphones is used to detect when it has dropped – and the mini airbag is then deployed before it hits the floor.

The idea is the brainchild of retail and technology giant Amazon, which has patented the protective system for mobile phones, electronic readers such as Amazon’s own Kindle, computer tablets and cameras.

This week the company won approval for the patent, which was filed in America by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, 48, a self-made billionaire who has forged a career from pioneering ideas.

The patent reads: ‘Prior to impact between a surface and a device, a determination of a risk of damage to the device is made. If the risk of damage to the device exceeds a threshold, a protection system is activated to reduce or eliminate damage to the device.’

The patent details a system that utilises a gadget’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers and other onboard sensors in order to determine if the device has entered an airborne state. If it has, the technology will release airbags to reduce potential damage – or possibly even change the trajectory of its fall by firing jets of air.

Although the technology is there, it may be a while before airbags come as standard in all smartphones! In the meantime, if you want to avoid the inconvenience of a shattered screen it is probably best to invest in a protective cover for your phone. This Fenice black diamante iphone4 cover not only protects your phone but looks stylish too! 

More than half of us expect our Christmas to be interrupted by work concerns!

Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration with friends and family to relax and indulge, but many of us will struggle to leave wok behind and enjoy our time off.

The Daily Mail reported today that half of us expect to be interrupted by work and three-quarters worry about their job in the run up to Christmas

With modern phones, tablets and laptops it is possible to stay connected wherever we are- which is great most of the time- but can leave people feeling like there is no escape over holiday periods.

More than a quarter of people fear they will miss out by having to work over the holiday while more than one-in-five worry their Christmas will be plagued by work concerns.

A poll of 1,000 workers discovered while 58 per cent had not asked for extra hours over the festive period more than half (50.8 per cent) have had their Christmas interrupted by work, and of those more than a third (37 per cent) have been bothered more than once.

People working in the IT and telecoms sectors are the most likely to be troubled during the winter break, making up 40 per cent of those bothered by their boss. Financiers are the most distracted by work over Christmas, while accountants are the most worried that they will not finish their work in time for the holidays, the study found.

Geographically workers in the north of England the most fearful of having to work during the festive period, with people in Manchester worrying the most (40 per cent), followed by Newcastle (34 per cent) and Liverpool (31 per cent). In the Midlands workers in Birmingham are the most concerned (30 per cent).

More than four out of ten respondents said they felt pressured into taking on more hours during the holiday season to pay for the festivities.

However it is respondents in the south of England who are most likely to be plagued by thoughts of work this Christmas, with the highest number of worriers in Plymouth (29 per cent), London (27 per cent) and Southampton (27 per cent).

‘The results of the study are very troubling, showing that many people not only feel pressured to take on extra work to pay for Christmas, but also feel an inability to relax and switch-off over the holiday period,’ said Sue Weir, CEO of healthcare firm Medicash, which commissioned the survey.

Are you looking forward to some festive downtime, or does the thought of going off-grid for a few days and turning off your phone have you in a cold sweat? 

How to be prepared for extreme winter weather.

This winter is predicted to be one of the coldest in living memory. It’s important not to get caught out unprepared and ill equipped!

It is important to stay informed, so keep an eye on the weather forecast and take action on any severe weather warning or advice that is given. There are a lot of weather apps available for your mobile devices, the Met Office have apps for Android or Apple devices and will help you stay on top of the weather changes as they happen.

Always leave extra time for your journeys during periods of extreme weather. Check that public transport is still running before you leave the house to avoid getting stranded outside in the cold!

If you drive, you should plan your route and leave extra time to ensure you are not rushing and drive safely in accordance with the condition of the road. The Highways Agency suggests that you keep an emergency kit in your car over the winter months. This includes:

• Ice scraper and de-icer
• Warm clothes and blan­kets — for you and all passengers
• Torch and spare bat­ter­ies - or a wind-up torch
• Boots
• First aid kit
• Jump leads
• A shovel
• Road atlas
• Sun­glasses (the glare off snow can be dazzling).

In addi­tion, when set­ting out on jour­neys dur­ing the win­ter sea­son remem­ber to take with you:

• Food and a ther­mos with a hot drink
• Any med­ica­tion you, or other peo­ple trav­el­ling with you, need to take regularly.

It is also important to remember that heaters, windscreen wipers and difficult driving conditions will all have an impact on your cars battery life. To avoid draining your battery and getting stranded in an emergency, it is a good idea to carry an emergency battery booster for your phone so you will never be caught out with a flat battery! This Universal Emergency Barrel Charger is not only great value, for only £4.99 but could be a lifesaver in an emergency. Simply connect your phone and talk whilst charging. It includes a range of tips for use with most handsets, including MicroUSB and powers up your phone so that it has up to 2.5 hours of talk time, all from one AA battery.  Keep a couple of spare AA batteries in your glove box and you will never be caught without battery again!

Be the centre of attention in winter whites for the festive season

It is less than two weeks until Christmas and we are waking up each morning to a crisp layer of frost glistening on the trees, making us feel festive and ready to celebrate the holiday season. So what better colour to bring a contemporary yet traditional twist to a Christmas party outfit, than snowy white?

White is the colour of the season and is guaranteed to make you stand out from the crowd. Use it as an accent for any outfit or, if you’re brave, go for the head-to –toe snow queen look and accessorise with plenty of glamorous sparkle.

This Artemis one-shouldersilk-georgette dress by Sophia Kokosalaki  has a real ‘goddess’ feel to it and would be perfect for a New Year’s eve party where you want to impress.

 

This Regan stretch-crepe dress from Preen is an absolute classic with it’s flattering 1950’s shape and demure hemline. It is guaranteed to be a wardrobe staple for years to come without ever falling out of fashion and looking dated.

If you don't want to wear head-to-toe white (and who can blame you with all the mulled wine being passed around) you can always accessorise any outfit with go-with-anything premium white accessories for your gadgets. This Fenice White Diamante  ipad case will look great over the holidays and well into the New year and it's clean and chic look will project an image of classic style and professionalism.

Mobile fitness recording devices are scientifically proven to help you lose weight

A recent study carried out by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine on ‘Integrating Technology Into Standard Weight Loss Treatment’ found that mobile health tracking devices are a valuable tool for people wishing to lose weight and keep it off.

In this study, 70 clinically obese adults were offered access to quarterly healthy eating and exercise and told to record everything that they ate and the exercise they did. One group did this using pen and paper and the second group were given a personal digital assistant to record their eating and exercise habits on. They also received a phone call from a personal coach every two weeks for six-months to assess their progress.

The group with the mobile trackers on average lost 8.6 pounds and managed to keep it off for an entire year. The mobile device users who’d attended the optional health education classes with an attendance rate of 80 percent or more lost 15 pounds. In comparison, the group that recorded their habits on paper barely lost any weight at all, and those that did short-term, put the weight back on just a quickly.

The study concluded that:

“The addition of a personal digital assistant and telephone coaching can enhance short-term weight loss in combination with an existing system of care. Mobile connective technology holds promise as a scalable mechanism for augmenting the effect of physician-directed weight loss treatment.”

There are many personal fitness mobile devices available, however the Fitbit Ultra is considered to be the most advanced and user-friendly. The stylish yet discreet Fitbit Ultra monitors your activity all day to provide you with real-time feedback on steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed to encourage you to walk more and be more active. It wirelessly uploads your data to Fitbit.com so you can gain deeper insight into your daily or monthly fitness and sleep levels with free online graphs and charts. On Fitbit.com, you can earn fitness badges, connect with friends to share and compete on fitness goals, or join the Fitbit community for advice and encouragement. As the study by Northwestern University shows, sharing your progress and getting support is just as important as recording your habits. It is great to feel like you are part of an online community that are all working towards similar goals and are eager to cheer each other on!

How to throw a successful Christmas party!

If it is your turn to host the Christmas Party for your friends, extended-family or neighbours you may, or may not be looking forward to it…

It is a lot of responsibility to make sure that everyone is happy! As the host, your guests rely on you to fill the awkward silences and provide enough wine to maintain a level of festive jollity without it tipping over the edge into slurred insults and dancing on tables. It’s tough- You have nothing in common with most of them and you are well aware that a some of them have dubious political beliefs. So how do you keep the party going while keeping away from the dangerous pitfalls of too much conversation?

The answer is to provide your guests with adequate entertainment so they do not have to resort to actually talking to one another!

Pick a couple of fun, interactive games that can include everyone- Make it competitive but keep it lighthearted!

The Appquiz is the most advanced interactive quiz game ever created and turns your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into a fully interactive quiz machine, with mini games and 1000s of different questions! Just download the free quiz game and meet your charismatic quiz show host – Chuck Boldhart!

Go head to head with 2-4 players or play in small teams; Keep the game fresh and download new game content and quiz packs for hours of fun for all ages! 

The Appsing is perfect for towards the end of the night after everyone’s merry on the sherry. If you think you could have the next Nolans or VonTrapps on your hands, get them singing with this fantastic karaoke app-cessory! The Appsing transforms your phone or media device into the most amazing karaoke machine. Simply slot your smartphone or media device into the Appsing’s universal cage and load your favourite karaoke app, follow the lyrics on screen and sing into the built-in microphone. A separate speaker unit will blast out your singing in stereo sound for everyone to hear! 

Don’t forget to film the fun- it will make perfect year-round blackmail material and will be a great conversation piece at next years Christmas party!

Great Christmas gifts for big kids!

Do you know someone who just loves to play games, adores gadgets and would rather have a high-tech toy than a practical prezzie? Well then, here are three perfect gifts that will be adored by big kids and little ones alike!

The Appcopter is a gyro-stabilized smartphone controlled helicopter. 

The Appcopter uses your smartphone together with a free downloadable app to become the most intuitive remote control copter ever! Control it using tilt control for the ultimate flying experience. Simply plug the peripheral into your handheld device and use the DPAP (traditional remote control) or the built in accelerometer to fly the helicopter using the tilt function. With an 8 metre flying range, the skies are yours to conquer. The peripheral unit is charged using a USB charger so no batteries are required.

The AppRacer uses the same intuitive remote control technology as the Appcopter to control a super-cool off road buggy. Indulge any boy-racer or gadget-girl with this fabulous and unique toy and put yourself firmly in their good books this Christmas.

The Appblaster is the world’s first interactive gun for gaming! It turns your smartphone or media device into the ultimate shooting game. Simply secure your smartphone into the universal cage and  use one of several compatible apps to change your lounge, office or anywhere you are into a fully immersive shooting game.

The AppBlaster has a unique trigger to touch screen technology and a double trigger allowing 2 screen interactions with the game as well as a multitude of gyro interactions.

Don't just take our word for it! Here’s what everyone else thinks…

Business Insider: “the most awesome iPhone accessory this year”

Ubergizmo: “features really cool virtual creatures”

engadget: “appblaster lets you kick alien butt, bubblegum not included”

... A guaranteed Christmas hit!!!