Personalized marketing is the key to consumer's wallets
Sending out generic marketing emails and scatter-gun coupon offers is no longer enough to attract the attention of consumers and can in fact have the opposite effect.
Predictive marketing company AgilOne has released the results of a survey which shows that online shoppers appreciate personalized communication -- as long as it's done right.
Microsoft reveals its Black Friday deals -- snap up a Surface Pro 3 bargain
You can’t have failed to have noticed that Black Friday is nearly upon us, with a wide range of deals being offered by pretty much every retailer and manufacturer.
It will come as no surprise then, that Microsoft is preparing its own raft of offers, covering everything from Surface Pro 3 and Surface 2, to Xbox One and Lumia 830. If you’ve had your eye on any of those products, now is the time to get your wallet out.
UK mobile broadband to get faster and cheaper thanks to moves by Ofcom
Ofcom has announced it will soon make more frequencies available to mobile broadband, resulting in increased speeds and a cheaper service.
By using the 700MHz frequency band, currently in use by wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV broadcasts, consumers in rural areas should also receive improved coverage.
Celebrating 60 years of software
There's an old computing joke that says the difference between software and hardware is that hardware is the bit you can kick.
To celebrate software's 60th birthday business package selection specialist Capterra has produced an infographic charting the history of the bit you can't kick. It'll provide a trip down memory lane for anyone involved in computing.
Stick your tablet on the railroad tracks with the Griffin and Rail Yard Studios tablet stands
As a child, I was obsessed with the railroad tracks. We lived very close to them, so it was a great place to hang around with friends and pass the time. One of our favorite things was to put pennies on the tracks so they would get flattened. Sure, it was a silly thing, but to a kid, it is the coolest thing ever.
Now that I am an adult, hanging out on the tracks would be weird, as that is mostly reserved for grown-ups that are up to no good. Luckily, thanks to Griffin, I can now relive my youth with the all-new Rail Yard Studios tablet stands. You see, these are made from actual decommissioned railroad steel!
Build your own 3D printer in 90 weekly parts
We've all seen those adverts for partworks allowing you to build a scale model of the Titanic at a cost not far off that of raising the real thing.
Now though UK publisher Eaglemoss Collections is producing a partwork that allows you to produce something a bit more useful. In 90 weekly parts it lets you make your own working 3D printer.
Wearhaus unveils 'social headphones'
If you’ve ever been to a silent disco, you’ll know that listening to music through a pair of headphones doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to shut out everyone around you.
Sharing music with friends that all wear headphones has traditionally been reserved for these kinds of parties, which is something the boys and girls from Wearhaus are trying to change.
ResMed unveils its non-contact sleep monitor
Sleep monitoring usually conjures up images of sensors placed all over the room or even in the bed making you think so much about the devices that you struggle to get off to sleep.
ResMed thinks it has the solution with its S+ system that it brags is the world’s first non-contact sleep system to come onto the market by using a wealth of data to give tips on how to sleep better.
When to find the best cyber shopping deals
'Tis the season to go and spend lots of money, as we approach Thanksgiving (in the US), Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other shopping opportunities.
With November and December sales expected to top $616 billion dollars, payment processing specialist Merchant Warehouse has produced an infographic looking at what to expect from the holiday shopping season.
Uncovering the real value of online reviews
We've become used to the fact that for pretty much any product or service we want to buy there will be reviews available online to help us with our purchase decision.
These reviews matter to businesses as they can have an impact on sales. Open review community Trustpilot has carried out a survey looking at how online reviews can influence the bottom line.
Woojer: A wearable subwoofer that lets you feel sound [Review]
Music at a concert is different to music played at home, or in the car, because the high acoustic energy that surrounds you means you don't just hear the sounds, you feel them. There have been attempts in the past to marry sound with vibrations -- subwoofer chairs and vibrating vests, for example -- so that games or movies feel more realistic, but Woojer, which successfully raised $143,000 on Kickstarter, takes a subtler approach.
The matchbox sized subwoofer is worn on the body and connects between any audio source (your phone or a tablet, say) and headphones. The audio input -- be it a music track, a game or film -- is transformed into a tactile vibration, which you can feel throughout your body.
Usability survey reveals the most frustrating websites
We've all encountered websites that are badly designed or seem to be willfully hard to use and now a new survey reveals the sites which cause the most frustration and are likely to be rapidly abandoned.
Website FAQ technology provider AnswerDash has released the results of its first website survey revealing Comcast.com, IRS.gov and CenturyLink.com as this year's most frustrating websites for US consumers.
Update: Two months lapping up a satellite internet connection
Three months ago I reached the end of my tether. I'm lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of the UK (it nearly wasn’t part of the UK had the Scottish referendum on independence taken a different turn), but there's one problem: truly awful broadband. There is a 'choice' of one broadband provider who is capable of trickling sub 0.5Mbps connections into houses in the area -- and that's on a good day.
One Twitter rant later, a few emails exchanged with Satellite Internet led to the arrival of two installers to get me set up with a 20Mbps satellite connection. My initial impressions were great. The internet worked as it should for the first time in months. But my fear was that this was just a honeymoon period. So what’s the story nearly three months down the line -- what is it like to live with a satellite internet connection? Were my initial concerns about data usage well-founded?
Texting drivers are fully aware of the dangers
A new survey suggests that the vast majority of drivers text while behind the wheel, despite being fully aware of the dangers involved.
The research indicates that 98 percent of motorists who own a mobile phone and text regularly are aware of the risks, yet 75 percent still admit to texting while driving.
AOC Q2770PQU: A fantastic, and surprisingly affordable 27-inch WQHD monitor [Review]
If you’re considering buying a 27-inch monitor, you really need to be looking at one which offers WQHD resolution (2560 x 1440), rather than the standard Full HD (1920 x 1080) found in a lot of models. The pixels per inch difference (108.79 PPI vs 81.59 PPI) will result in a much greater level of detail and clarity which, if you’re working with images, you’ll definitely notice and appreciate.
The problem with buying a 27-inch WQHD screen is cost, but AOC’s offering is a lot more affordable than most -- just £360 from Ebuyer including VAT and delivery -- and it offers an awful lot for the money, including a fully adjustable stand, so you can use the screen in both landscape and portrait modes.
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