As ‘tis the season of goodwill', this month I’m going to share one of our family traditions with you all.
 
On Christmas eve, we will be tracking Santa’s progress and he travels around the globe delivering all those gifts to children young and old. There are several apps out there to help – the oldest is the NORAD Santa tracker which is available on Apple and Android apps as well as on your desktop or laptop browser.

NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command and they have been tracking Santa now since 1955 and telling children where Santa has been spotted on their radar. www.noradsanta.org
You might also want to try the Google version at https://santatracker.google.com/village.html
 
There are another couple of things you can do both with and for the little people in your family at Christmas that we have great fun with.
 
Try the Elf Yourself app (on iOS, Android and browser) and make some great elf animations into which you paste selfie face shots or photos of family members. This make excellent electronic greetings to send around your family as well as being good fun to make. You can include up to five family members – so go fish out a picture of all your kids and get creating.
https://www.elfyourself.com/
 
Last but not least, how about a video for your children sent direct from Santa in the North Pole? You can personalise a message so that Santa knows your child’s name and what they have asked for as gifts and so on. This is a great one for bedtime on Christmas eve to encourage your little ones to sleep…well, try at least! Do be aware that this has both free and premium (Paid) options. The free ones are terrific though.
https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/home
 
Most of all, we wish you and yours the very best at Christmas and hope that Santa has you all on his ‘nice’ list and brings you everything you deserve.

A Merry Christmas to you and all your family.

Tis the Season of Good Will - written for File Genie by Freelance Writer Ruth Raymer @WritingWalking

With more channels than ever before and Christmas movies, Sport and Kids TV coming out of our ears, it represents quite a challenge in a household where there are more people than TV sets and everyone wanting to watch something different.

But wait… did you know you might have the answer in front of you?



​Your device – phone, tablet, laptop or PC can provide you with the opportunity to watch streamed TV wherever you are (though some services require you to be using the same WiFI network as your TV provider – see below).
Whether you are an Android, iOS or Windows phone user, you will find apps in your app store for many of the UK TV providers – ITV hub, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are now joined by Sky Go and Sky Q – for Sky TV subscribers, and Virgin, NOW TV, and others also have bespoke apps to view their content with your subscriber details. The same apps are of course available on your iPad or other tablet, the Microsoft Store or as websites to watch from your browser on any device.

There are also several apps available that bring together content from the main TV providers in one place. My favourite is TV Catch Up, though be aware that these may well have adverts interrupting your viewing, you are watching TV streamed with a few seconds delay from the real thing, so not truly live, but almost.
Most of these apps require you to register to use them, but most have opt-out options, so you don’t get bombarded with emails from them.

One thing to remember is that these apps and websites will be using your internet connection, so if your phone or tablet are using your mobile signal, they will eat your data allowance rather quickly. If you can connect through WiFi, you will not need to worry about extra data charges.
​
Finally, have a happy, peaceful holiday, whatever you are watching.

Are You Looking Forward To All The Offerings This Christmas? - written for File Genie by Freelance Writer Ruth Raymer @WritingWalking

​If you missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday or you didn’t get anything in the sale but still want to save some money this Christmas, here are 5 money saving tech tips from File Genie.





   

1. Understand what you are looking for before you go into the shop. It’s a bit like doing your food shopping on an empty stomach. You will come out with a lot of things you don’t need!
2. Bundle deals e.g. computer game systems or TV and surround systems - make a comparison and shop around, bundle deals are available in many stores and offer different options and specifications depending where you go.
3. Don’t get sucked in to buying any unnecessary add-ons, they may seem great at the time but are often things you don’t need or want.
4.  Open box and refurbished electronic items are a great way of saving extra money, they still have the 1 year warranty that new tech has.
5.  When it comes to mobile or other tech insurance at the point of sale… check it, you may have this already covered under your home Insurance. With extended warranties, think about the longevity of the device or appliance and its existing warranty, do you really need it?

 
Save the File Genie number in your phone: 07872 052 751. If you have seen something whilst out shopping (a great bit of tech for what looks like a good price) and you are unsure about buying it… give File Genie a call, our trusted Geek will help you decide if it is the right tech for you with some impartial advice.