Top 5 Christmas Presents for Teenagers

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Every year at Christmas time, we all tear our hair out trying to decide what is a good present to buy for our friends and family. This is even more difficult when the person in question is a teenager! That’s why I’ve written this article containing my top 5 Christmas gift ideas for teenagers, to help you give an excellent present without having to worry about it being shoved in a cupboard and forgotten.

Present idea no.1 Digital Camera
If you are struggling for a one-size fits all idea will suit practically any teenager, look no further than the humble digital camera. Digital photos are the currency of social media, a great way to capture travel and holiday moments and an instant hit at parties where apparently teenagers congregate to take ‘selfies’. The best thing about buying a digital camera as a gift, is that there are options to suit every person!

If you the teenager you are buying for is the adventurous type, check out the Panasonic FT5 Tough. It is durable, reliable and takes photos in stunning 16 megapixel quality!

Present idea no.2 Digital SLR Camera
If you are buying for an aspiring or even up and coming photographer, then a DSLR is the perfect gift that is sure to leave them stunned when the wrapping paper is ripped off.
The Sony Alpha-65 is a great professional quality DSLR that will have your teenager taking stunning photographs before Christmas lunch is on the table.

Present idea no.3 MSI Adora (all in one desktop PC)
Perhaps you are looking for something a little bit more practical, that you can con yourself into believing the teenager will use it for say ‘schoolwork’ or ‘study’. Check out the MSI Adora, a stunning all in one desktop PC that boasts a stylish and modern look, it is sure to be a hit with your teenage gift receiver.


Present idea no.4 Gaming Headset
As gaming is fast becoming the go to entertainment medium for teenagers, maybe a gaming headset could be the gift you are looking for! Check out the Cooler Master Storm Sirus 5.1 surround sound headset. For the avid gamer and audiophile alike, this headset is sure to put a big smile upon the face of your teenager.

Present idea no.5 MSI Slidebook S20

With all the slick functionality of a tablet, and the versatility of a slide out keyboard, this funky tablet from MSI will allow the teenager of your choice to surf the net, edit, write, network and socialize with ease and style!

That’s it for the top five gift ideas for teenagers article. I hope it was helpful. Have a very merry Christmas!

What to look for when buying a camera this Christmas

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To the uninitiated, buying a camera can be a daunting task. There are so many options and big technical terms to navigate. Luckily, I’ve prepared this short tutorial on how to select the camera that will tick all the boxes on that special somebody’s wish list.

The first and most important question that you need to ask yourself before buying a camera this Christmas is; what will this camera be used for? That may sound a little silly, because obviously it will be used to take photos. It is important to distinguish whether you want to take professional quality photos and portraits with a top end DSLR style camera, or whether you would prefer the rugged reliability and convenience of some of the point and shoot style digital cameras.

For readers who are unfamiliar with the term DSLR it stands for digital-single-lense-reflex. This type of camera uses a reflex mirror that allows for viewing of the shot through a viewfinder window at the back of the camera, they also feature removable lenses.

Point and shoot style cameras have a LCD screen on the back panel, which is used to frame the shot, they are typically lighter, quieter and significantly lower priced than DSLR cameras.

Both styles of cameras have their pros and cons, but to put it very simply a DSLR will give you more personalized control over your photography as well as producing a better image, but they are more difficult to use, more expensive and require more maintenance. A point and shoot camera comes in a convenient, easy to use, durable and accessible package but sacrifices image quality and manual control.

So say you are looking for a camera that you can throw in a bag and take to a party, or even take on a trip around the world to take happy snaps of yourself in front of every sight and location you visit, then a point and shoot is the right camera for you. A great value for money camera is the Nikon Coolpix s6500, with 12x optical zoom and 16-megapixel performance, it will capture your favorite moments in stunning quality photo or video. If you want a camera that doubles as a cool accessory that represents your own personal style, then check out the Sony Cybershot range. With a wide range of sleek and sophisticated finishes, there is sure to be a camera that suits your taste and budget.

If you are looking to get into the professional photography game then definitely go for a digital SLR. If you are looking at buying an entry level DSLR, The Nikon D7000 offers great value for money and can often be found packaged with high quality lenses such as an 18-105mm VR Lens. Or perhaps you want to go to the tippity top, and grab yourself an Olympus OM-D E-M5 12-50MM Weather Proof. With great versatility and features along with the advantage of being weather proof, this camera is hard to go past if you want to spend a bit more money.

So when buying a camera this Christmas, figure out whether you want a DSLR or a point and shoot, decide which features are necessary for your purpose, and then select a camera that suits your budget and your own personal taste!

Best of luck, and happy snapping!

5 pieces of technology hitting shelves soon

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Some are weird, some are wonderful but they are all things we haven’t seen before. Have a look through this list and see if there’s anything you will be picking up on launch day.

1. Google Glass
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This smick looking device is a wearable computer. Created by global powerhouse Google, it has critics and fans alike in an uproar. One way or another, google glass is going to change the world, the question is, for better or worse?

2. The Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift is a first of it’s kind piece of virtual reality technology. Aiming to give users an unparraleled immersive entertainment experience, it houses two angled screens that completely fill the users field of view as well as gyroscopes that track the movements of the head and relay this information to the image displayed.

3. The Scanadu Scout

This could be the new best friend for hypochondriacs worldwide. By holding this device to your temple and scanning you can get a reading on all of your vital bodily functions including heart and respiratory rate, temperature, stress levels and much more. Upspecced models apparently can even tell if you are sick, and what you are sick with!

4. Samsung Galaxy Gear
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Essentially a smartphone that can be worn as a watch. Although this may seem a little gimmicky at first glance, Samsung’s ability to make aesthetically pleasing and highly functional products could see this being a real trendsetter in the personal communications market.

5. The Whislte

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This device, aptly named ‘the whistle’ will track the movements and activities of your canine best friend. The best thing about this item is that the data collected will be invaluable in assisting vets in providing health care to the concerned canine owners pet.

So, did anything catch your eye? Will you be pitching a tent outside a store to pick up your pair of Google Glass smart glasses? Or is a Samsung Galaxy Gear more your speed?

Social media and it’s applications for business

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If I told you twenty years ago that the internet would become that biggest global market place for ideas, products, social interaction and marketing, chances are you would have given me a dumbfounded look and asked what the internet is. Now the internet is home to global powerhouse business’s and host to social media platforms that have their tentacles snaked into every part of our lives.

If you’ve come to accept that social media is here to stay, and like it or not, it is, then perhaps it’s time you started considering how you could use social media to boost your business’s online presence. It may seem like an impenetrable maze of menus and websites, but in the end a few hours of perseverance will pay dividends. Remember, that the longer you leave it before you jump on board the further you’ll need to swim to catch up to the boat. I challenge you to find one successful business or corporation that does not maintain a healthy presence on at least one social media platform.

Now, you might be wondering what all this has to do with technology, why am I lecturing you about getting involved in social media when this is a technology news blog? Well, perhaps you haven’t considered using technology to ease your access and use of social media. Having a fast and reliable computing solution will increase your online productivity exponentially, if you are interested in taking your business online or even improving your productivity in the office you really are shooting yourself in the foot if you are using out dated hardware.

Perhaps you are using a phone that doesn’t have much internet capability, or you have a phone that has capability but you aren’t utilizing it! Carrying an internet capable phone is a tool that should not be squandered, when you are struck by a thought that will attract attention to your business online, you can post it via your phone no matter where you are!

If you need to update your technology solution, whether it is by updating computer hardware, getting an internet capable phone or even getting a new camera to upload some high res pictures then head on over to http://www.trendsetter.com.au where you will find everything you need to make social media work for you!

Technology Lifecycle Management Plan

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Personally, i find few things as exciting as ripping the packaging of a new piece of tech. Whether it’s a printer, a monitor, a mouse a keyboard or a huge photocopying unit, it transports me straight back to my childhood. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning, tearing the wrapping paper off a present.

If this rings true with you, then you might be interested to know that you can actually save a lot of money by opening a new piece of technology more often. You may think that’s not possible, or that it doesn’t make any sense, but in the context of business, regularly and procedurally updating technology is an absolute must.

This process is called a Technology Lifecycle Mangement PLan, or TLM for short. By implementing a TLM you can save thousands of dollars in upgrade costs and man hours and carve the inefficiency out of your day to day operations. For example sake, say a new business is getting up and running and wishes to be at the bleeding edge of technology. So they buy a brand new computer and telecommunications solution that is the very best money can buy. They want to get the best value for money for their purchase so they keep the same solution for a long long time, until it simply isn’t viable to use it any longer and then they junk the entire set and buy in at the forefront of the curve once more. This costs a huge amount of money and towards the back end of the solutions life cycle will cause inefficiencies and incur service costs to keep the system running. The business would have been far better off buying a mid range solution to begin with, which would cost almost half the amount of the bleeding edge solution but wouldn’t lose even close to 50% performance. As soon as the cheaper solution begins to slow down, become inefficient or outdated, the business can then upgrade to the current mid range solution for the same total price as they would have paid for the bleeding edge solution originally.

That may seem long and complicated, but put simply it means, don’t buy the absolute bleeding edge of technology for your business, rather, buy the mid range products because they generally represent far greater value.

And the advantages don’t end there! Consider for a moment, your poor, underpaid, overworked, under-appreciated IT staff. Whether they are in-house or contracted, there is a good chance if a piece of technology is bleeding edge, they won’t be highly familiar with it. This will mean that initially service turnaround will be inefficient whilst the IT staff become accustomed to the technology. After they do become accustomed with it, they will then have to endure its long and slow decline towards the junk heap as you steadfastly refuse to upgrade because you “paid a goddamn fortune for it” in the first place. All this pain could be avoided by buying a mid range solution that your IT people will undoubtedly be familiar with, which will come with a modest price tag which will allow you to upgrade within a reasonable period of time.

Maybe you still aren’t convinced, and you are sitting at your desk thinking “Stupid blogger, doesn’t know anything, i’m just going to buy the most expensive one and i’ll be happy.” Well the good news is you can get either bleeding edge or tried and true over at http://www.trendsetter.com.au , so head on over and you can be ripping the wrapping off your shiny new piece of tech before you can say technology life cycle management plan.

technology in everyday business life

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Technology has become such an integral part of business that it is hard to imagine how we would go about our daily lives without it. How often do we send an email, write up a document using word processing software, use a spreadsheet or database to store information or surf the net to find the answer to any question that springs to mind.

All these technologies are relatively recent developments, they have sprung into prominence in the last few decades and are definitely here to stay. This article from The Economist: ( http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=eiu_Staying_ahead_of_the_technology_curve ) revealed that a survey of top CEO’s and executives found that technology is seen as the single most important driver of change in the business environment.

Even with technology becoming more and more widely adopted and integrated into businesses, a lot of outfits are slow to adopt new technologies and even slower to update or replace outdated tech. This article at turnovercost highlights the dangers of letting your business tech get outdated: ( http://www.turnovercost.com/can-outdated-office-technology-harm-your-business/ )

As the article above suggests, by scrimping and saving and avoiding expenditure on business technology you could very well be harming your business. The best performers equip themselves for success. You don’t see professional athletes competing with old or worn out gear, so why should a business suffer with outdated or dilapidated technology?

If this article strikes close to home, maybe your mind jumps to that old fax machine that is always on the fritz, or the photocopier that puts a whopping big black line through the occasional page or even outdated computers that take five minutes to boot up and shutdown then maybe it’s time you headed over to http://www.trendsetter.com.au and revolutionized your business technology!

The Oculus Rift and it’s application in the disabled gaming community.

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The Oculus Rift is an exciting piece of technology that is due for release in the near future. The Rift is the first real foray into virtual reality technology. With two angled screens presenting the user with a full field of 3d vision and it’s gyroscopic sensors allow movement of the head to be directly translated into movement in game.

Gamers, researchers, entrepreneurs and VR enthusiasts  around the world are incredibly excited for the release of the Oculus Rift and the unique opportunities it will provide. One group who is especially exciting is gamers with disabilities. The AbleGamers Foundation are getting ready to incorporate the Oculus Rift into their ever expanding porfolio of customized gaming solutions for people with disabilities.

Because the Rift only requires movement of the head and neck and eyesight to be used, it will be accessible to a wide range of people with disabilities who cannot use traditional controller interfaces.

To check out more about the Oculus Rift and hear from the AbleGamers Foundation, check out the video below!