It’s hard to disagree that Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Whether it’s the great food, neatly wrapped presents under the Christmas tree or the bringing together of family, the winter holiday season is usually an enjoyable time spent celebrating with loved ones.
However, Christmas is not without its occasionally stressful moments, with customary events such as present shopping, Christmas dinner prep or even the meeting of friends and family sometimes coming with their own unique sets of challenges. So, what can be done to ensure a stress-free Christmas?
Believe it or not, Father Christmas is not the only one who can weave some magic and solve many of those problems. With the help of smart technology, even some of the most challenging festive frustrations can be made a thing of Christmas past. From 5G connectivity to smart ovens, here are four ways that technology could help improve this year’s festive celebrations:
-
5G for connecting with family
As proven last year, bringing families physically together for Christmas is unfortunately not as easy as it used to be. With the unpredictability of domestic and international pandemic travel restrictions, mobile connectivity can offer friends and families an accessible option to stay in touch, either individually or in groups, over FaceTime, message or call.
What’s more, with 5G services now available in over 60 countries worldwide, 5G connectivity could offer an easy, quick and reliable way of staying connected over the festive period. With lower latency, increased capacity and increased transmission speeds, 5G could enable you to communicate with loved ones from multiple devices and locations around the world, allowing you to stay in touch wherever you are.
-
Smart devices for Christmas cooking
Considered by some to be the main event of Christmas day, Christmas lunch (or dinner for many out there), while delicious and wonderful at the time, can be a source of intense stress for those tasked with cooking up the yearly feast.
However, with the help of smart cooking devices, Christmas cooks can have some of the strain taken off their shoulders. Smart ovens, for example, allow you to adjust cooking temperature, monitor cooking remotely and control your oven via voice control, all from your mobile app. This means you can monitor cooking while nipping to the shops or unwrapping presents with the family – without needing to be in the kitchen.
-
Mobile wallets to help you shop
While online shopping has certainly reduced the need to hit the shops, there are those who enjoy heading into town to navigate the seas of fellow shoppers in search of gifts. However, having to carry copious amounts of cards when picking up last minute bargains can not only be a hassle, but wholly impractical.
With a mobile wallet, shoppers can securely store their digital credit and debit cards in one place on their device, and don’t have to worry about bringing multiple cards when shopping in person. What’s more, shoppers can also enjoy higher transaction limits, contactless payments and card details that automatically update – allowing for a seamless and secure shopping experience this Christmas.
-
Smart watches to stay active
Smart watches can help you stay active over the Christmas period by tracking your steps, heart rate and movement in real time. Now that more of them have the latest eSIM technology you can connect them to your favourite operator right out of the box. They can also send you a notification when you need to do more exercise, or if you’re exercising too much, allowing you to monitor the amount of physical activity you’re doing over the holidays and helping you hit those New Year’s resolutions!
Interested in finding out more about how technology can help you have an enjoyable Christmas? Read some of our previous blogs on the topic here:
Or, leave a comment below and make sure to follow us on Twitter @ThalesDigiSec!
