Apple picks up Twitter stat firm Topsy, is it eyeing another go at social?

 

Put this in 140 characters: Apple has picked up Topsy, a social-media analytics company specializing in data from Twitter.
Word of the "more than $200 million [about £122m, AU$219m] deal" comes from the Wall Street Journal, and Apple confirmed the purchase with its standard "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans" statement.
It's particularly puzzling what Apple has on tap for Topsy. The firm is one of only a few that can access Twitter's "firehose" - every tweet that makes its way to the service.
Topsy's tools, which can track data as far back as 2006, can do everything from sussing out how often a specific term is tweeted to finding influential people on a particular subject. In short, Topsy can mine troves of relevant, marketer-lip-smacking info.

Topsy turvy

There are a few possibilities for what Apple can do with its new plaything.
One option the Journal floated would be for Cupertino to use Topsy's tech for iTunes Radio. Determining and then alerting listeners to trending songs and hot-topic artists sounds right up Topsy's alley.
Data for use in advertising also lives in the land of possibility, especially as Apple's own iAd platform has been met with less than enthusiastic responses from marketers.
Even further afield, Apple could be eyeing another foray into social networking. The now-defunct Ping was a sorry try, but armed with better tools, this turn may stand a better chance at getting off the ground.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite may arrive in time for MWC 2014

 

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Grand 2, but it's got plans to cover yet another price point with the Galaxy Grand Lite.
According to SamMobile the Galaxy Grand Lite, as it's being referred to right now, is on its way and could be unveiled at MWC in February 2014.
The phone packs a 5-inch WVGA screen, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and a microSD slot to bulk that up.
The rear camera will be a 5MP deal, while there'll also be a front-facing VGA snapper and a 2100mAh battery.

Dual identity

Considering the Galaxy Grand and Galaxy Grand 2 are both dual-SIM (and therefore quite popular in markets such as India), it seems obvious that it'll be the same affair on the Lite. But we expect we'll see it come further West too, with a single SIM option also being mooted.

SamMobile states that the phone will be available from "somewhere around the fifth week of 2014" which puts it a couple of weeks before MWC. But we could also see the announcement held off until the Barcelona show.
SamMobile also states that the phone will be available in white, "Midnight Black", orange and "Lime Green". So white, black, orange and green, then.

Too tired to type? Google might soon post your replies for you

"Ha ha ha. That was a great joke, person concerned. Let's interface again soon"

We're getting a good, hard look at the future at the moment. First up was Amazon's plan for a delivery drone army, and now Google wants to create a virtual version of us all.
If you thought Google Now was too smart for its own good, a recent patent from Mountain View describes something much more ambitious.
The patent, just published, describes a "system and method for automatic generating suggestions for personalised reactions or messages". Which basically means that it will autopost on social networks - or at least offer suggested responses - so you don't have to.
The system analyses information and your only behaviour and generates a number of suggested you-like responses you might want to give.
But things get a little more terrifying when the patent starts talking about how it can become automatic "without need for the user to approve or reject suggested messages".

Talk about lazy

The information will be scooped from Google+, emails and website visits, but also from your SMS and MMS.
Pulling all of these together, the system will gradually learn more about your social habits over time, essentially creating a virtual version of yourself.
Ok, so it sounds a little "out there" and may never happen, but then you look at Google Now - which predicts what you want by analysing your information and activity patterns - and it doesn't seem so crazy after all.

Garmin HUD review

One day, car technology might put an end to just about all road accidents.
But right now we're in a tricky phase where drivers are being bombarded with more and more features and functions.
That's a major problem when it comes to driver distraction. It's never a good idea for to take your eyes off the road ahead, even to glance momentarily at your navigation screen. That's exactly where the new Garmin HUD comes in.
It's a head-up display that's compatible with literally any car, no matter how new nor how old. The idea is that is delivers heads-up navigation cues along with other information including your current speed and time to destination so that you can keep your eyes forward and on the road.

Garmin HUD: How does it work?

So, how does it all work and is it any good? The first part of the how does it work bit involves the unit itself. It's a little black tablet the size of a small smartphone, albeit much thicker.
It's actually a hinged two-part device. The bottom slice is flexible and has a sticky pad, which together allows the whole thing to be mounted on most dashboards. It also has a pair of screw holes so you have the option of a semi-permanent installation if preferred.

Package includes the HUD, a flip-up reflector a power adapter and more

The top half has the multi-function display, which is actually a pretty old school monotone vacuum fluorescent affair with a fixed array of functions and icons rather a pixel grid.
In simple terms, you mount the unit on your dash pretty much directly ahead of your eye line and allow the display to reflect onto your windscreen. Garmin provides a transparent reflective patch you can optionally attach to you windscreen to improve contrast. For most cars, that's probably the way to go.

Setup

You'll have to experiment a bit to get an ideal position but it's not actually a difficult task. However, for some cars, depending on the dash design and the angle of the windscreen, that may not be workable. So Garmin also provides a little flip-up screen that allows the head-up functionality to work without using your windscreen.
The bottom line is that it's very likely you'll be able to come up with a workable solution in terms of viewing the head-up display. That said, it's not a hugely elegant solution.

Garmin's HUD definitely works, but it does look untidy once installed

For starters, it requires a power cable which creates in-car cable mess. You could have a USB power cable professionally installed which would largely mitigate that problem. But you'll still be left with a rather odd-looking lump sitting on your dash.
Pretty it ain't. In short, for neatness and slickness, there's no substitute for a factory-fitted head-up display.

Smartphone compatibility

The other part of the setup equation is syncing with a compatible smartphone. That's necessary because the Garmin HUD doesn't have any nav or GPS capabilities of its own. It's essentially a Bluetooth-powered display.
You'll need a compatible navigation app installed on your smartphone, either Garmin StreetPilot app (iOS) or the Navigon App (iOS, Android, Windows Phone). Then you simply sync the two device via Bluetooth, at which point your handset will prompt you to choose a compatible app from a list (any compatible nav apps you have installed are highlighted) and that's really it.

The HUD's display is a simple monochrome affair

From then on, you really don't have to touch the Garmin HUD again. Instead, it all happens on your handset. You hop into the relevant nav app and set a new destination as you normally would and the rest works automatically.
For starters that means visual navigation cues including a lane indicator, graphics depicting what exit to take off a roundabout, estimated time to destination the usual stuff. You can also see both your speed and the local speed.
Depending on the nav app your using and the features you have installed on your handset, the HUD also supports speed camera warnings.

Performance

So it's pretty easy to set up and works seamlessly thereafter. But is it actually any good? The answer is mixed.
In terms of legibility, it's a win. The 'head-up' part of the proposition really works. If you've never experienced a head-up display before, the Garmin HUD will quickly convert you to the basic idea.

Display data includes direction cues, speed, camera warnings and more

As for the accuracy of the mapping, that's obviously down to the nav app you're using, though obviously you are limited to Garmin and its sister outfit Navigon. If, say, you're a TomTom devotee, that could be a problem.

Nexus 5 vs Moto X: which is better?

It's a good time to buy Android phones. With the likes of the Nexus 5, Moto X and HTC One, it's really hard to go wrong. The question is, which phone should you buy?
We're going to compare two of our favorite Android devices - the Nexus 5 and Moto X - because if we had to spend our own cash on an Android smartphone today, it would boil down to those two devices.
Although the phones have their differences, they're also alike in some ways. This might make the decision-making process harder, especially when they're both great devices.

The Nexus 5 is a solid machine with some of the best specs you can find on an Android phone today. It has a sharp, 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 with a 2.26GHz CPU, Adreno 330, 2GB RAM and all for a starting price of just $350 unlocked. That is incredible.
On the other hand, the Moto X has a rich 4.7-inch -720p AMOLED display, excellent curvature and customizable design, active notifications and Touchless Control. The latter allows you to speak commands to your phone even if it's asleep, which means the microphone is always on.
Let's take a look at the big features and see how they compare between the two devices.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Display

The Nexus 5 has a 5-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD display, which gives us a density of 445 PPI. Compared to other smartphones, its colors and contrast tend to look more washed out, and the display doesn't get nearly as bright as the HTC One or iPhone 5S, for example.
However, whites look white without having too much of a bluish or cool tint. And the display is very sharp, which makes watching movies and looking at photos a real pleasure.

The Moto X has a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 AMOLED display, which offers deep blacks, rich colors and contrast and generally warmer hues. It has a density of 316 PPI, so it looks sharp enough when you're holding it at normal viewing distances.
Which display is better? Well, it all becomes a matter of preference. The Moto X's AMOLED display is very rich when it comes to color and contrast, and it also draws less power, which helps the Moto X with its great battery life.
However, we also like the Nexus 5's larger, razor-sharp display. Without another smartphone to compare it to, the colors and brightness are just fine. It's only when you compare it directly with the Moto X or HTC One that you begin to notice its slightly washed out colors and contrast.
It's a toss-up between the two, but many seem to prefer the Moto X's display even though it's not as large or sharp as the Nexus 5's screen.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Camera

At the moment, and until Google fixes the camera on the Nexus 5, we can easily give this one to the Moto X.
The Moto X has a 10MP rear camera, while the Nexus 5 has an 8MP shooter. Of course, megapixel count isn't everything, but it's the way each camera performs along with the native camera interface.
We found that the Moto X had a much easier time focusing in situations where the Nexus 5 struggled to find focus. In fact, the Nexus 5 would sometimes take seconds to focus even in bright, high-contrast scenes.

Moreover, there is a considerable amount of shutter lag on the Nexus 5's camera, whereas the Moto X was quick to start up and take shots and go from shot to shot.
Motorola also updated its camera software recently to allow you to drag its focus indicator to select your focus and metering point.
The Nexus 5's native camera software can be frustrating and confusing, especially for first-time Nexus users. There aren't many settings available, and they're hidden or buried in certain actions that first-time Nexus or Android owners might not find.
One thing we do like about the Nexus 5 camera is PhotoSphere, or the ability to take 360-degree panorama images. The stitching could use some improvement, and generally it's more of a user issue than a software one, but it's a neat trick to have.
When it comes to image quality, we will give the edge to the Nexus 5 despite its huge shortcomings in the actual shooting department. Images just seem less noisy and not oversharpened on the Nexus 5.
Another thing the Nexus 5 does better than the Moto X is HDR, or what's called HDR+ on the Nexus 5. It does a good job of retaining details in highlights and in shadows without making them look too cartoony, or giving a halo effect around edges. The Moto X tends to overdo the HDR effect, especially in scenes where the dark and light areas are extreme.
In the end, getting the shot, and preferably in a timely manner, is what matters to us. The Moto X does that a little better than the Nexus 5, and the X's camera software is a little more manageable, too.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Battery life

Initial reviews of the Nexus 5 weren't so forgiving when it came to assessing its battery performance. However, we've found that over time, the Nexus 5's batter isn't bad at all, and it's very much comparable to other high-end Android devices like the HTC One.
However, it still doesn't quite keep up with the Moto X, whose battery can easily last an entire day and then some depending on your usage.

If we had to estimate just how much more life, on average, the Moto X gets over the Nexus 5 in terms of juice, we'd say that the Moto X can get up to 4-8 hours more on a single charge than the Nexus 5.
At the low end, it might not sound like a huge difference, but those few hours between getting home from work and going to sleep is big - especially if you're going to spend those hours being out on the town.
If you're considering either phone and battery life is a dealbreaker for you, we'd highly recommend getting the Moto X.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Performance

In day to day use, performance differences between the two devices are surprisingly negligible. One would imagine that the Nexus 5, with a 2.26 GHz Snapdragon 800, would easily blaze by the Moto X's 1.7 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro.
Numbers and specs don't tell the whole story, as we've learned over time. There were some cases when the Moto X was just slightly faster than the Nexus 5, and vice versa. In the end, it's a toss up between the two for most uses.

Similarities in performance can also be attributed to the device's displays, where the Moto X has fewer pixels to push than the Nexus 5.
When we opened and ran apps side by side, they were both roughly the same. In situations where the Moto X was faster, we were slightly surprised. A few examples are within Chrome and YouTube: in Chrome, some web pages loaded up faster than on the Moto X, and in YouTube some videos were ready to play on the Moto X, too.
The Nexus 5 was definitely faster in some cases, like when we we loaded up Asphalt 8 and played through one round of the game.
One would think that the Nexus 5 would have the clear edge in performance because of its spec sheet, but real-life daily use tells another story. Between the two, it's honestly a toss-up.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Perks and features

One of the nice things about both phones is having voice control options. For the Moto X, you simply have to train it to recognize your voice via Touchless Control. Its microphone is always on, so whenever you say "OK Google Now," the phone will be ready for your next command.
The downside is that it will require you to unlock your phone if you have a passcode PIN or pattern, which we always recommend, so its usefulness is hampered.

The Nexus 5 will recognize the phrase "OK Google" when you're already in Google Now, and from there you can give it similar commands to ones you'd make for the Moto X.
When it comes to being touchless, we would give the Moto X the edge for its ability to hear your voice even when the phone isn't active. It also has a feature that knows when you're driving, so you can have your messages read to you.
Another huge feature, at least for us, is the Moto X's Active Notifications. Without having to touch your phone, the Moto X will display your notifications if it detects sound or movement, so you can glance at the time and all of your missed notifications without having to unlock your phone.

You can also attend to certain notifications right away, and the difference is simply between swiping up or down from the lock screen.
It might sound like Active Notifications are for the lazy, but it certainly helps manage distractions. When the Nexus 5 buzzes, you have to reach for your phone and unlock it to see whether you have to attend to something or not.
With the Moto X, when you get a notification, they all remain on your Active Notifications display, so you can decide when to get to them.
For the Nexus 5, having Google Now always on and just a swipe to the left is convenient if you like Google Now. You'll always have real-time info when it comes to weather, your calendar events, travel and transit times and options, sports scores and more. Of course, the Moto X has Google Now, too, but the Nexus 5 gets a dedicated home screen for it.

Nexus 5 vs. Moto X: Which should you buy?

After comparing a few of the big differences and features between the two devices, it's time to decide which one to buy.
Of course, this is only a decision you can make for yourself. We're hoping that we've provided you with enough info to know which one is right for you.
The Nexus 5 will likely be one step ahead when it comes to getting Android updates from Google. Its specs make it future proof, the display is gorgeous, and it's the cheapest high-end smartphone you can buy unlocked and off contract.

The Moto X has a little more soul, something other powerful smartphones like the LG G2 lacks, and its physical design seems a little more human-friendly. Its UI still makes it feel like a Google-y phone, and its battery life is excellent.
You can also customize the Moto X to your liking, with many color, name and engraving options. The Nexus 5, on the other hand, comes in only black or white.
We're always left feeling unsatisfied when we read or write comparisons that end in, "It's so hard to decide, they're both great," but that's exactly how we're going to end this. You really can't go wrong with either device, and both have their perks and faults.
In the end, what matters to you is what's going to guide your decision. Need great battery life? Get the Moto X. Want a big display? Get the Nexus 5. That can go on and on, so good luck with your purchase decision and try not to sweat it so much!

Three: '4G launch is under way'

 

Three customers are chomping at the bit to get their mitts on 4G network coverage, and some users are already benefiting from a staggered rollout.
The data-friendly network has revealed on its Twitter account that select users in three cities are already enjoying some free 4G action.
One tweet reads "4G launch is under way but it's only available to a few thousand customers in certain areas before spreading early next year," while another says "the roll-out has started with a few thousand customers in 3 cities including Birmingham. This will be ramped up early 2014."

Official announcement tomorrow?

Update: We will see Three go official with its 4G launch soon, as a TechRadar source has revealed that the network is prepping a 4G announcement for tomorrow.
The source warned that Three would only be flicking the switch in London, and it will initially be very limited, so there's no guarantee everyone in the capital will be able to take advantage.
We have contacted Three for more information and we'll update this article when we hear back.

With Nymi Wristband, Your Heartbeat Unlocks Your Devices

 

 

 

 

Here's a twist on knowing thy heart. A startup is looking to manufacture a wristband that recognizes its wearer by his or her heartbeat. The wristband, called Nymi, then communicates with wearers' other devices—laptops, tablets, smartphones—to unlock them when their owners pick them up.

The wristband isn't ready for sale yet. Its creators, part of a small Toronto-based company called Bionym, are now taking pre-orders for $79. Bionym plans to ship Nymis in 2014. Once ready, the wristband will come with the ability to unlock PCs, Macs, and iPhone and Android phones and tablets, Karl Martin, Bionym's CEO, tells Popular Science.
It's not clear yet exactly how accurate Nymi (Martin pronounced it "NIM-mi") will be, nor how convenient it will be to use. But it is a very cool combination of technologies: It not only IDs who's wearing it by his or heartbeat, it also recognizes gestures and its distance from different electronic devices.
Here's how it works. When wearers put the Nymi on, sensors in the wristband will take the person's ECG. That's the measurement that hospitals take when they measure people's heartbeats. Although all healthy hearts make roughly the same spiky shapes in an ECG sensor, there are enough differences in the graph to tell different people apart, several years of research has found.

Karl Martin Displays a Nymi Model over Skype

The Nymi takes its wearers' heartbeat just once, when they put the wristband on. Then, as long as they wear the wristband, the Nymi is able to communicate with and unlock any devices with which it's registered. If people take their Nymi off, it won't work anymore until it takes another ECG measurement. That prevents others from being able to use a lost or stolen Nymi.
In the future, Martin and his colleagues are hoping other app developers will make programs that will let Nymi do more than what Bionym will build in. A video* Bionym produced shows some possibilities. Unlocking a car door with a gesture, unlocking a hotel room door, turning on the TV to the wearer's last-watched program—those are all things Nymi will be prepared to do, given the right app.

 

The Best Doggie Gadgets

 

Rollo Collar

The Rollo Collar is also a leash. A 4.5-foot cord winds into a compartment built into the collar, and magnets hold the handle securely in place. After the leash uncoils, users press a button on the collar to lock the lead at the desired length. $45

Why Doesn't The iPhone 5S Have NFC?

Apple calls the newest flagship iPhone, the iPhone 5S, "the most forward-thinking iPhone yet." Sounds great! We love looking forward. But the iPhone, unlike its chief competitors in the Android world, can't handle tap-to-pair with speakers or accessories. When the U.S. finally catches up to Japan and South Korea and makes tap-to-pay with your phone, or tap-to-swipe your subway "card" ubiquitous, the iPhone 5S won't be able to do any of that fun stuff. How is Apple thinking forward if it's ignoring one of the most widespread up-and-coming future technologies?
The caveat, right up front: NFC is not spectacularly useful right here and right now. It's a feature that comes in just about every Android and Windows Phone, but isn't advertised in most of them; it's just one more sensor in a device crammed full of sensors that most consumers neither understand nor, frankly, need to understand.
But! It's also a very cool thing, and it's going to take off sooner or later, and those phones will be prepared for this future. The iPhone 5S will not. To really fulfill its potential, we're going to need a lot of infrastructure changes, which cost a lot of money. Every subway entry is going to need an update to support NFC. Every point-of-sale device in every store and every ATM is going to need that same update. Every store that has a buy 10, get one free customer loyalty card is going to have to convert that to digital. Every credit card company is going to have to get together and agree on the way this is going to be done. Individual state governments will have to do the same for driver's licenses and IDs. Same with the federal government and passports.
But none of that is completely out of reach; it's been done in other countries, and it's on its way here, in some fashion. Mobile payment systems like Square have caught on; dealing with money and identity through our phones is not something that inherently terrifies us. We can do it.

 And there are actually a whole bunch of cool things you can do right now with NFC! I really love the Samsung TecTile stickers, which you can tap with your phone to trigger all kinds of things. Stick one on your bedside table, and when you lay the phone down there at night, it'll switch on your alarm but turn other modes to silent, keep your phone on lower power usage, text your significant other, turn Wi-Fi on and off, or all kinds of other things. NFC speakers, like these Nokia-branded ones from JBL, let you pair without dicking around in your settings. Just tap your phone on the speaker and bam, it turns your Bluetooth on and automatically connects you do the speaker. Very easy, very cool.
Apple likely didn't include NFC in the iPhone 5S because Apple nominally likes to present itself as a minimalist tech company, not including things that don't add significantly to the experience of using the device. (That's why iPhones don't have styluses like the Samsung Galaxy Note, gesture control like the Samsung Galaxy S, or optional software overlays like the HTC One.) And that's good! We support that attitude. But Apple also, as the company with the most promotional power in the entire industry, has the ability to singlehandedly change things. If Apple had included NFC in the iPhone 5S, and really pushed it, who knows what could change? Maybe an explosion of new gadgets. Maybe pressure for stores to update their point-of-sale devices to support this cool new iPhone. Apple has that power, and we sort of wish they'd exercised it.

Thermoacoustic Headphones Make Sound With Hot Nanotubes

Inside these earbuds, something big is happening on a very small scale. Set on a tiny lattice of silicon, electrified nanotubes of carbon are rapidly warmed up and cooled down, producing sound waves as their temperature fluctuates. The technique is known as "thermoacoustics," and it means these speakers lack the moving parts of conventional, mechanical models, and as a result are likely to last much longer.

If thermoacoustic speakers are so great, why haven't they been used before? Material limitations, really. The principle of thermoacoustics—heating a material to produce sound—was explained at least as early as 1878, but it's only in recent times that nanotubes have made it really feasible, thanks to their durability and excellent conductive properties. In 2008, researchers made a carbon nanotube loudspeaker. In 2009, Finnish researchers made a thermoacoustic speaker from thin aluminum wires. This latest design, by researchers at Tsinghua University in China, sets the carbon nanotubes on a silicon lattice so that the heat, needed to make sound, doesn't also damage the speaker.

 

JAM FUSION

With a set of Fusion headphones, two people can listen to the same song on the same device. The headphones pair with each other and a media player via Bluetooth. $90

Help Save The Seahorse By Stabbing At Your iPhone

 

Seahorses are awesome. They're covered in squishable armor that protects them from being crushed. They're one of the only fish species with a neck, as well as one of the few to swim upright. They push the pain of pregnancy and childbirth off on the males of the species. Plus, um, have you ever looked at one? Look at that majestic, almost-equine face!

Unfortunately, many seahorses also appear on the World Conservation Union's threatened species list, as a result of fishing and habitat destruction. Many species, though, are listed as "Data Deficient," meaning we don't know enough about their populations to figure out whether they're facing extinction or not. This is where citizen science can come in.
A new project called iSeahorse aims to bump up the number of people on the lookout for seahorses by allowing anyone—scientist, diver or beach-goer—to catalog any seahorse sightings they experience through an iPhone app and website. (Presumably, most divers would upload a sighting after getting out of the water. For the sake of the phone.)

Around 13 million seahorses are sold around the world each year, either dead or alive. They get swept up in shrimp fishing nets and sold for use in traditional Chinese medicines. Some are sold as aquarium pets. Their habitats in coral reefs and seagrasses are being destroyed.
“We know that seahorses are threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing practices, and habitat loss," Heather Koldewey, the Zoological Society of London's head of global conservation programs, said in a statement. iSeahorse was created by the marine conservationists at the University of British Columbia, the Zoological Society of London and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium."Now we need to pinpoint populations and places that most need conservation action."
The website's online toolkit designed to help people learn to identify seahorses mainly focuses on those native to southeast Asia, a region with a high diversity of seahorse species. The toolkit also includes sample lists of the necessary equipment for a seahorse-seeking dive, guides to surveying and printable datasheets for divers to record their data before, during and after their dive.










Spot a wee marine horse? Log it on the iSeahorse website, or download the iPhone app. This could be you:

 Thermal Wristband Keeps Your Body At The Perfect Temperature

A group of MIT engineering students wants you to get nice and comfy. They've created a thermoelectric bracelet designed to keep its wearer at the optimal thermal level for personal comfort.
Called Wristify, the prototype monitors air and skin temperature and then shoots thermal pulses into the wrist to cool or warm the user according to their needs. Very small, quick changes in temperature on parts of the skin with high blood flow can make the whole body feel several degrees cooler or warmer, the creators say, and their watch-like thermal system can change the body's temperature by up to 0.4 degrees Celsius per second.
The intent is to save energy by controlling the temperature of an individual person, rather than an entire building, a goal that anyone who's ever turned on a personal space heater in a frigid office building in July can get behind. The team just won $10,000 from MIT's MADMEC* contest, which the inventors will use to improve the prototype and the algorithms that automate the pulses.

Fitbit's Newest Fitness Tracker Is Also A Watch

Today Fitbit, makers of some of the most popular fitness trackers on the market, introduced its newest and most expensive model ever: the $130 Fitbit Force. The biggest change? An OLED display that allows the Force to double as a watch.
The Fitbit Force is sort of a combination of a few of its other products. The tiny pocketable Fitbits, like the Fitbit One, have little bitty OLED screens that display calories burned, steps taken, that kind of thing. The Fitbit Flex is a bracelet-style tracker with all the same sensors as the Fitbit One, but without the screen. The Force is essentially a bumped-up Flex with the screen from the One.
Like the other Fitbits, the Force is simple and streamlined. It has a pedometer and, newly added to the Force, an altimeter, so it can measure steps taken on both flat land and stairs. It syncs with an app for your phone via Bluetooth (and also has NFC, so if you have a compatible phone, like a Samsung Galaxy S4, you can tap your phone on the Force to sync it) to upload all your data.
The display is small and glows a bright blue, and doesn't come on automatically--you have to press a button on the side of the device to wake it up. (Other techno-watches, like the Basis Band and Pebble, use an accelerometer to turn on when you suddenly tilt your wrist towards your line of sight.) Fitbit says it'll enjoy seven to 10 days of battery life, which is impressive, though if you regularly sync via Bluetooth, that'll drain the battery faster.
We've expressed doubt in the efficacy of fitness trackers before, and the Fitbit isn't too different from the models that provoked that doubt. It still doesn't have a heart rate monitor, nor does it provide real-time notifications or alerts (though it does have a sleep alarm that vibrates gently). But it's certainly the most capable product in Fitbit's current lineup

Put These Quarter-Sized GPS Trackers On Everything

 

Misplaced your phone? Dropped your keys? Lost your dog? This crowdfunded project would let you locate basically anything with tiny GPS trackers that are accurate to within 5 feet. Retrievor is GPS disk that's barely more than an inch in diameter and less than a half-inch thick. Retrievor trackers are powered by tiny solar panels and can be set to very low power usage; so, in theory, they can operate indefinitely. There's also a micro USB port for charging the batteries conventionally. Trackers can be viewed and controlled by web, Android, or iPhone apps. Owning a Retrievor will cost $1.79 per month for each tracking device, presumably to offset operating costs.
For extra fun with tracking, the Retrievor can be given parameters for alerts—a sort of virtual fence to work in. If the tracker (and, presumably, the person or thing it's attached to) leaves the virtual fence, Retrievor will send text messages alerts. Presumably these read "the prisoner is trying to escape" or "the teenager is skipping school."
GPS tracking that's precise down to 5 feet would certainly be useful for lost keys or other small items. But the marketing for Retrievor suggests its primary use is tracking people. Set to a bad B-movie montage song, the Indiegogo project video plays heavily on parental paranoia, suggesting buyers attach Retrievors to their children's bicycle helments and backpacks, to campers and mountain bikers. Retrievor will "let you know where your teenagers are," but in a weird following-them-with-a-secret-tracking-device way, not a normal call-and-ask-them way. The project's FAQ even includes the question "How can I attach Retrievor to my child or pet?"

Apple Unveils New iPads

 

iPad Air Apple

Today in Cupertino, Calif., Apple CEO Tim Cook and a few other bigwigs took the stage to announce some new stuff. What kind of stuff? New, slightly better iPads; a new, slightly better operating system; and a grab bag of other bite-size announcements. Here's what you missed.

NEW IPADS

Yes, this is what we came for. Apple announced two new iPads today: the iPad Air and a new iPad Mini.

First, the Air. It's a 7.5mm-thick tablet that weighs 1 pound (compared to the iPad's 1.44 pounds) and, natch, has a faster CPU. It's a very nice-looking little gadget, and comes with Retina display, the lovely, no-pixels-visible screen on the current generation of regular ol' not-mini iPads. It'll run from $500 to $930, depending on what storage you get and whether you want LTE for connecting to the web on the go.

Which brings us to the new iPad Mini, which is also stocked with Retina display. Except this one comes in a bite-size packaging: it has a 7.9-inch screen, compared to the 10-ish standard iPad size. And this version will come with a series of colorful cases, if you're into that sort of thing. 

MEASURE OUR HEART BEAT USING HEADPHONE:

At a medical device exhibition in Yokohama, Japan last week, researchers from the Kaiteki Institute Inc. and Bifrostec Inc. demonstrated a prototype technology that can turn $8 earbuds into a heart rate monitor.
The microphones in a pair of earbuds transmit data about the pressure changes in the ear canal as the eardrum moves, which can be analyzed to determine the wearer's heart rate. According to its creators, the system doesn't require tweaking anything about commercially-available earphones, just using a program to process the signals.

 
 Since the headphones can still be used to listen to music, this could be an easy way to monitor your heart rate at the gym by adding an app to enable your phone or music player to turn the signals from the earphones into a readable heart rate. Motorola has previously offered a line of headphones featuring heart rate monitors, but they will run you a whole lot more than $8.

 NanoLeaf

Using only 12 watts, NanoLeaf produces 1,600 lumens, making it the most efficient LED lightbulb. Printed circuit boards provide both the bulb’s circuitry and structure. And because the 33 LEDs draw so little energy, they also produce little heat, eliminating the need for a heat sink, so the bulb is lighter. $45

Motorola And 3D Systems Will 3-D-Print Modular Cell Phones

Last month, Motorola announced a plan for a modular smartphone. Project Ara, the company said, will be a simple way for users to individualize their phones, swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users have a phone that's just for them. How do they plan on doing that? With 3-D printing, apparently.
The company has inked a deal with 3D Systems, a global 3-D printing manufacturing company, to help produce parts of the phone. Assuming the project--still officially in development--takes off, 3D Systems would be a "multi-year" production partner, making smartphone "enclosures and modules" for the Google-owned phone company.
There's reason to be skeptical of modular phone technology, but Project Ara does get a pedigree boost from former DARPA director and now-Google exec Regina Dugan, and having the weight of a big tech company behind it doesn't hurt. Motorola says they'll be releasing more details on the project in the coming months

Surgical Needle That Sucks Wine From Bottle Without Removing Cork

Wanting only a glass or two of wine puts drinkers in a tough spot. Once the bottle’s opened, the wine starts to oxidize and lose its flavor. No rubber stopper will halt the process, leaving partial bottles to go to waste. Greg Lambrecht, a medical-device entrepreneur, figured out a way to solve the problem. The devices that Lambrecht once built used a special needle to access implants without creating permanent punctures. His Coravin Wine Access System uses the same idea to draw wine from a bottle without uncorking it.

To pour a glass, a user places the Coravin on top of a bottle, 

pushing its hollow 2mm-thick needle through the cork. A capsule 

then releases argon, an inert nonpoisonous gas, into the bottle. The pressure forces out the wine. In 

all, it takes about 20 seconds per pour; when the needle is removed, the cork reseals itself.

 Over the past decade, Lambrecht has conducted blind tests with sommeliers to compare wine 

accessed with Coravin to unopened bottles of the same vintage. Most perceived no taste difference. 

Meanwhile, Lambrecht has used Coravin to drink his bottle of inspiration, a 1990 Paul Jaboulet Aine 

Hermitage la Chapelle, in its entirety—one glass at a time, over three years.