Welcome to the Radcomm UK’s Weekly Tech Roundup. Here, you will find the latest and greatest tech stories all in one convenient spot; ensuring you are kept up to date with current events. If you wish to join our mailing list, feel free to drop us an email at sales@radcommuk.co.uk and we’ll sign you up straight away. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news updates and exclusive online deals.

1. UK councils ‘unprepared’ for cyber-attacks

Over 25% of councils in the UK have experienced a breach on their computer systems over the past five years according to campaigners.

According to the BBC, a report from privacy group Big Brother Watch found out that 114 councils experienced at least one incident between 2013 and 2017. The group also highlighted their shock at how the staff based in governing bodies lacked any cyber-training.

The report stated that the privacy group received responses from 395 local authorities. From the 114 local authorities who had experienced a data breach; 25 reported they had lost data as a result. The report determined that humans were the weakest link in ensuring the local governing bodies remained secure. The majority of successful cyber-attacks were carried out with phishing emails.

The report found that three-quarters of councils did not provide mandatory cyber-security training for their staff and a further 16% offered no training at all.

Jennifer Krueckeberg, lead researcher at Big Brother Watch, said: ‘One would assume that they [councils] would be doing their utmost to protect citizens’ sensitive information’ as reported by the BBC.

‘Local authorities need to take urgent action and make sure they fulfil their responsibilities to protect citizens,’ she added.

2. AI exploitation

Experts have issued a sincere warning detailing how AI could be detrimental in the wrong hands.

A report titled The Malicious Use of Artifical Intelligence was filed last week highlighting the risks which AI pose to our society in the future. The report – which was co-authored by 26 different authors spanning from academia, civil society and industry backgrounds – covers three categories that AI currently pose to us; digital security, physical security and political security.

The report suggests that AI is currently ripe for exploitation; and suggests that governments worldwide need to make a conscious effort to ensure new laws are in place to safeguard mankind from AI.

Furthermore, the report examines the potential realistic risks that AI will pose over the next five years – not the unforeseeable future. This is worth considering; as the report contains genuine concerns; not just speculative ‘what if’s’. You can download the full report here: The Malicious Use of Artifical Intelligence.

To summarise the report;

Policy-makers and technical researchers to work together to understand and prepare for the malicious use of AI
A realisation that, while AI has many positive applications, it is a dual-use technology and AI researchers and engineers should be mindful of and proactive about the potential for its misuse
Best practices that can and should be learned from disciplines with a longer history of handling dual use risks, such as computer security
An active expansion of the range of stakeholders engaging with, preventing and mitigating the risks of malicious use of AI

Miles Brundage, research fellow at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, said: “AI will alter the landscape of risk for citizens, organisations and states – whether it’s criminals training machines to hack or ‘phish’ at human levels of performance or privacy-eliminating surveillance, profiling and repression – the full range of impacts on security is vast.’ as reported by the BBC.

“It is often the case that AI systems don’t merely reach human levels of performance but significantly surpass it.

“It is troubling, but necessary, to consider the implications of superhuman hacking, surveillance, persuasion, and physical target identification, as well as AI capabilities that are subhuman but nevertheless much more scalable than human labour.”

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

TC-620 Analogue Radio

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶
Now only £114.99!

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Reliable Mechanical Design
Enhanced Speaker Protection
Added Benefit for Your Business

Grab yourself a bargain this January with the fully licensed TC-620 for an amazing £114.99!

If you were considering adding an additional radio to your fleet this new year, now is the time to do so. The TC-620 is available in both UHF or VHF and is therefore fully compatible with your licensed radio fleet. Don’t miss out on this great offer and take advantage today.

Email us at sales@radcommuk.co.uk or give us a call on 0115 952 2777 for further details.

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

3. Facial recognition and the impact it will have on our lives

Facial recognition technology will transform the way we live in 2018. Machines that can read and recognise our faces will go mainstream, opening up exciting possibilities and posing new dangers.

4.Young adults lacking cybersecurity awareness

52% Britons aged between 18 and 25 are using the same password for multiple online sites according to a report.

The report was pretty damning and highlights the ignorance towards cyber security which is prevalent among young adults in the UK. Aside from reusing passwords across multiple sites, a staggering 79% of respondents claimed that they had sent bank details and copies of passports and driving lessons.

This begs the question; are young people neglecting cybersecurity due to a lack of knowledge; or through complacency? The survey suggested that people in this age bracket often use the same password ot their email that

“Your email account is really a treasure trove of information that hackers won’t hesitate to exploit,” said Det Insp Mick Dodge, national cyber-protect co-ordinator with the City of London police in a statement, as reported by the BBC.

5. Amazon’s top-selling Electronics: 2018

Every week, we’ll take a look at the highest trending products on the net, to let you know the hottest gizmos and gadgets out there. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the top 5 electronics on Amazon, highlighting the model, the price, and the people’s verdict.

See below the top 5 most sold electronics currently on Amazon including features, price, rating and a hand-picked review from the Radcomm UK team.

5. Duracell MN1500 Plus Power Type AA Alkaline Batteries, Pack of 12

Price: £7.01

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Duracell offers a wide range of batteries to be used in electronics that require reliable power. Ideal for reliably powering everyday devices that require a kick of additional power, these multi-purpose alkaline batteries give you up to 50 percent more power (max. diff. vs Duracell simply in 2015 IEC digital camera test; results may vary by device) and are available in size AA, AAA, C, D, 4.5V and 9V. Duracell’s Duralock technology keeps unused Duracell batteries powered for up to 10 years in ambient storage, giving you the freedom to enjoy the use of your appliances. Plus power AA batteries are best used when you are looking for reliable, long-lasting power in your every day devices such as remote controls and flashlights etc.

Duracell plus Power AA batteries have up to 50 percent more power (max. diff. vs Duracell Simply in 2015 IEC digital camera test, results may vary by device)
Duracell plus power batteries are suitable for all low and mid-drain devices, such as motorized toys, flashlights, portable games consoles, remote controls, CD players, etc.
Superior nylon top closure helps preventing our batteries from leakage
Duracell’s duralock keeps unused batteries powered for up to 10 years in ambient storage
Available in AA, AAA, C, D, 4.5 V and 9 V sizes

Radcomm’s top review – Vicuña

Long sell by date, so I’m happy these will store until needed. I’ve used Duracell before and for regular use, I’m happy with their performance. I use them in laptop mouse, wireless speakers and clocks where they last for months and often years. Competitive price; at least one third cheaper than buying from local supermarket. Very pleased.

4. Amazon Echo (2nd generation)

Price: £89.99

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Amazon Echo is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, answer questions, make calls, send and receive messages, provide information, news, sports scores, weather and more. All you have to do is ask.

Amazon Echo connects to Alexa-a cloud-based voice service-to play music, make calls, set alarms and timers, ask questions, check your calendar, weather, traffic and sports scores, manage to-do and shopping lists, control compatible smart home devices, and more.
Just ask for a song, artist or genre from Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn and more. With multi-room music, you can play music on Echo devices in different rooms, available for Amazon Music, TuneIn and Spotify; Bluetooth not supported. Echo can also play audiobooks, radio stations, news briefings and more.
Call or message anyone hands-free who also has an Echo device or the Alexa App. Also, quickly connect to other Echo devices in your home using just your voice.
New speaker with Dolby processing that fills the room with immersive, 360° omnidirectional audio, and delivers crisp vocals, deep bass, and clear highs at louder volumes.
With seven microphones, beam-forming technology and noise cancellation, Echo hears you from any direction-even while music is playing.
Just ask Alexa to control your compatible smart lights, switches, TVs, thermostats and more
Alexa is always getting smarter and adding new features and skills. Just ask Alexa to request an Uber, order a pizza, get train times, and more.

Radcomm’s top review – breadesign

It’s a fun product, but not nearly as polished as you might think. Things I like – I can adjust the temperature on my Nest thermostat, Order from favourites on Ocado, listen to national radio stations, get updates on weather and news… so far so good. But there are quite irritating drawbacks that stop it from being a four or five star product. Firstly the sound – fine for music, but horribly bassy for spoken word, which is the sort of radio I like – and to compound the issue, there is no graphic equaliser – on a second generation product that sells itself as a speaker? The communication is also badly conceived. To contact other Echo users you need to upload your address book – which is intrusive and smacks of a marketing database somewhere profiling myself and all my contacts – worse still – it is set to default to making those contacts live – I was potentially connected to clients and ex-girlfriends who I then had to manually block one by one in the app – not good… should be opt-in *not* opt-out.

It also has a ‘drop-in’ function where you can call other Echo’s on the network – which sounds great, but is laggy and you miss words which makes it clunky to use.

Overall it’s a nice product, looks smart, the voice recognition is good and the additional skills are what really make it useful – if you do already have smart home equipment and a subscription to Prime it probably would be a decent investment, but if not, the built in sound quality (and lack of any ability to adjust the sound) really makes it a much less attractive option.

3. Amazon Echo Dot (2nd Generation)

Price: £49.99

Amazon Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device with a small built-in speaker—it can also connect to your speakers or headphones over Bluetooth or through a 3.5 mm audio cable to deliver stereo sound to the speakers you choose. Echo Dot connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, make calls, send and receive messages, provide information, news, sports scores, weather and more. Prime members can also ask Alexa to order eligible products they’ve ordered before and many Prime products. All you have to do is ask.

Rating : 4.5 Stars

Amazon Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms and more
Connects to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable to play music from Amazon Music, Spotify and TuneIn. Play music simultaneously across multiple Echo devices and speakers connected via cable with multi-room music (Available for Amazon Music and TuneIn. Bluetooth not supported)
Call or message anyone hands-free who also has an Echo device or the Alexa App. Also, quickly connect to other Echo devices in your home using just your voice
Controls lights, switches, TVs, thermostats and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Sony, Hive, Netatmo, Nest, tado° and others
Hears you from across the room with 7 microphones for far-field hands-free voice control, even in noisy environments or while playing music
Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled device
Always getting smarter – Alexa updates through the cloud automatically and is continually learning, adding new features and skills

Radcomm’s top review – RobinJ

Basically, the Echo Dot is an impressive piece of hardware. For an item of its size, the sound quality is remarkable. But, since there are already numerous reviews that describe its functions perfectly well, I’m going to concentrate on the couple of rough edges I’ve discovered because they may help others who are scratching their heads. I repeat that this does not mean I think it’s bad. Quite the contrary.

First, the sound issue. You can easily connect the output of the Dot to a Line-In on your HiFi to get extremely good quality sound, so bypassing any objection to the lack of bass and giving you voice activated house-wide music and radio, if that’s how your HiFi is set up. And it works very well. Except for two features.
First, plugging a 3.5mm jack into the Dot disables the sound on the Dot itself. Now I know this is the conventional behaviour of a jack. But it means that, once you’ve plugged up the Dot, you need the HiFi switched on or you hear no responses from it. Since the whole point of the Echo family is to voice-control everything, walking half way round the house to physically remove a plug kind of defeats the object. It would be simple to switch this in software and then allow the user to say, “Alexa, mute the Dot” to avoid any echo problem when the HiFi is active.
Second, the electrical power output of the Dot is considerably less than that of most other standard sources. Or maybe there’s an impedance mismatch. In any event, you have to crank the volume up considerably. If you forget to turn it down when you later select another input, you discomfort people at the end of the street.

I’ve come across one other problem, in linking my Logitech Harmony hub to the Echo environment. To cut a long story short, the HiFi name, as I’ve configured it in the Harmony database is ‘Onkyo’ because that’s the manufacturer. When I ask Alexa to “Turn on Onkyo”, she responds that she doesn’t know what ‘K’ is. It took me a while to work out what was happening. Because there are 2 ‘on’ syllables in quick succession, Alexa ignores one as a stutter. So she hears “Turn on kyo”, can’t make much sense of ‘kyo’ and gives ‘K’ as a best response. So I altered the name of the HiFi in my Harmony account. Alexa stubbornly continued to behave as before. So once you’ve linked a device, Alexa doesn’t check the parameters again. You have to uninstall the link and then reinstall it to coax it into noticing the change.

2. AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable (3 ft)

Price: £5.49

Rating: 4 Stars

Apple MFi (Made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod) certification ensures complete charge and sync compatibility with your Apple device. Connect the Lightning Adapter to your Apple device and connect the USB side into a wall adapter or USB hub to charge or your computer to sync data.

Apple MFi certified charging and syncing cable for your Apple devices
Apple MFi certification ensures complete charge and sync compatibility with iPhone 7 Plus / 7 / 6 Plus / 6 / 5s / 5c / 5 / iPad Air / iPad mini / mini 2 / iPad 4th generation and iPod nano 7th generation
Connects to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector and charges/syncs by connecting the USB connector into your wall charger or computer
Compact Lightning connector head works with nearly all cases
An additional layer of protection has been added to the Lightning and USB ends to improve durability and reduce fraying; cables have been tested to bend 95-degrees 4,000 times
Backed by an AmazonBasics 1-year limited warranty

Radcomm’s top review – Gavin

I opted for this slightly longer length as i am often away with work and in hotel rooms there is never a plug by your bed!! the cable with this is long enough to allow you to lie in bed and still be charging your phone from almost anywhere in the room (unless your place of work has a very generous hotel allowance!). I’ve been using this for over 6 months now and no signs of wear, which i have had from other noncertified products i have bought cheaply- they tend to fail around the base of the lightning connector, but that hasn’t been the case in this instance.

1. Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote | Streaming Media Player

Price: £39.99

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Just plug your Fire TV Stick into an HDTV and start streaming in minutes. Use the included Alexa Voice Remote to search across apps and find the best way to watch. The Fire TV Stick has the fastest Wi-Fi and most accurate voice search of any streaming media stick. Shows start faster and stream more smoothly than ever before.

The next generation of our bestselling Fire TV Stick. The most powerful streaming media stick, with the fastest Wi-Fi and most accurate voice search-now including the Alexa Voice Remote.
Over 7,000 apps, games and Alexa skills, including Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, Netflix, and more. Plus, access millions of websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit with browsers like Silk and Firefox.
Launch apps and control content with the included Alexa Voice Remote. Simply say “Launch Netflix” or “Skip ahead 5 minutes” and Alexa responds. Plus, play music, search for local restaurants and more. Just ask.
8 GB of storage and 1 GB of memory for apps and games, a quad-core processor, plus 802.11ac Wi-Fi for fast streaming and smooth performance.
Easily find what you want to watch with search results from Netflix, Prime Video, and other third-party apps.
Amazon Prime members get unlimited access to Prime Video, featuring thousands of movies and TV episodes, including The Grand Tour, at no additional cost. Plus, Prime members can add over 40 premium channels such as Discovery and Eurosport Player. Channels are available as individual subscriptions so you only pay for the TV channels you want.
Pick up where you left off. Bring hit shows and movies with you when you travel. Plug your Fire TV Stick into a TV’s HDMI port, connect to Wi-Fi and continue watching.
Play current favourites or quickly discover what to watch next directly from the Home screen.

Radcomm’s top review – Arron Clarke

The device itself is really well made and is easy to use but Amazon refuses to sell Googles products on their website which as a consequence Google has pulled support for their apps which means there is no longer a YouTube app available so you have to use a web browser on the firestick and use the YouTube website (not a very good solution IMHO) Also the Firestick runs android no matter how Amazon tries to hide it, they make you use to Amazon website to download Android apps which doesn’t have the amount of apps the playstore has which is a shame (there is other ways round this as many people know) but its just a shame that Amazon are doing this as a result tye customer suffers.

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

TC-620 Analogue Radio

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶
Now only £114.99!

Superior Audio Clarity
Reliable Mechanical Design
Enhanced Speaker Protection
Added Benefit for Your Business

Grab yourself a bargain this January with the fully licensed TC-620 for an amazing £114.99!

If you were considering adding an additional radio to your fleet this new year, now is the time to do so. The TC-620 is available in both UHF or VHF and is therefore fully compatible with your licensed radio fleet. Don’t miss out on this great offer and take advantage today.

1. UK councils ‘unprepared’ for cyber-attacks

2. AI exploitation

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

TC-620 Analogue Radio

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶ Now only £114.99!

Superior Audio Clarity

Reliable Mechanical Design

Enhanced Speaker Protection

Added Benefit for Your Business

Grab yourself a bargain this January with the fully licensed TC-620 for an amazing £114.99!

If you were considering adding an additional radio to your fleet this new year, now is the time to do so. The TC-620 is available in both UHF or VHF and is therefore fully compatible with your licensed radio fleet. Don’t miss out on this great offer and take advantage today.

Email us at sales@radcommuk.co.uk or give us a call on 0115 952 2777 for further details.

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

3. Facial recognition and the impact it will have on our lives

4.Young adults lacking cybersecurity awareness

5. Duracell MN1500 Plus Power Type AA Alkaline Batteries, Pack of 12

Price: £7.01

Rating: 4.5 Stars

4. Amazon Echo (2nd generation)

Price: £89.99

Rating: 4.5 Stars

3. Amazon Echo Dot (2nd Generation)

Price: £49.99

Rating : 4.5 Stars

2. AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable (3 ft)

Price: £5.49

Rating: 4 Stars

1. Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote | Streaming Media Player

Price: £39.99

Rating: 4.5 Stars

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

TC-620 Analogue Radio

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶ Now only £114.99!

Superior Audio Clarity

Reliable Mechanical Design

Enhanced Speaker Protection

Added Benefit for Your Business

Grab yourself a bargain this January with the fully licensed TC-620 for an amazing £114.99!

If you were considering adding an additional radio to your fleet this new year, now is the time to do so. The TC-620 is available in both UHF or VHF and is therefore fully compatible with your licensed radio fleet. Don’t miss out on this great offer and take advantage today.

Email us at sales@radcommuk.co.uk or give us a call on 0115 952 2777 for further details.

– RADCOMM UK Promotion –

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶
Now only £114.99!

January buy price: £̶1̶3̶9̶.̶9̶9̶
Now only £114.99!