7 iPhone 6S features taken from other phones

As expected, Apple unveiled two new iPhones - iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus at its special event in San Francisco. Not much has changed in terms of design (similar to other S-iteration iPhone variants) but Apple’s next-generation iPhones boast of some new features. While we already know that iOS 9, the software powering the iPhones, comes with features seen already on Android phones, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are also playing catch-up with others. Here are seven new iPhone features that Apple has borrowed from others..

3D Touch

Apple’s 3D Touch lets users perform different actions by applying different levels of force on the screen. For instance, a deeper touch opens up an advanced menu or peek into the content inside the app while a simple tap just opens the app. Apple has deployed the same technology in the new 12-inch MacBook and Apple Watch as Force Touch.

The implementation is certainly new but we’ve seen a similar, multi-level touch feature called SurePress on the BlackBerry Storm 2. Huawei also managed to include a similar feature on its Mate S smartphone days before Apple’s new phones.

Live Photo

One of the new iPhone camera tricks, Live Photo captures some action before and after you press the shutter key and offers it as an animated picture. Still images animate responding to taps (or force touch).

We’ve seen this feature on HTC phones for years with the implementation referred to as Zoe. Microsoft’s Lumia phones also offer a similar feature called Living Image. It’s still not clear if Apple will use a proprietary format or store pictures in GIF format.

4K Video Recording

Support for 4K recording or movie hall quality video recording enables users to shoot video in high resolution (3840x2160p). The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are the first Apple devices to offer this feature.

However, the technology is anything but new and most modern flagship Android phones come with 4K video-enabled cameras. Phones such as the Sony Xperia Z3 and LG G3 supported this feature in 2014. This is another area where Apple’s playing catch-up.

Playback Zoom

Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus now feature playback zoom, the ability to zoom into objects in videos while playing them. This feature has been present on a number of Android phones including Samsung Galaxy flagships for years. Some third party video apps also support this feature. A small but useful addition nonetheless.

Retina Flash

Apple’s new iPhones sport an upgraded 5MP front-facing camera but there’s no front flash. For taking selfies in the dark, the Cupertino company has devised an interesting solution through which the screen goes three times brighter and acts as a flash. Apple calls this Retina Flash.

However, the idea is not very original; apps like Front Flash work in the same way setting the screen brightness to maximum and turning the screen white while a picture is taken with the front flash.

Always-on Hey Siri

On the old iPhones, Apple’s Siri voice assistant could be triggered with a voice command when connected to a charger. However, thanks to the new M9 coprocessor, the feature is always on allowing users to activate Siri by saying ‘Hey Siri’ when an iPhone 6S, 6S Plus is nearby.

A number of Android phones support a similar feature for the Google Now assistant and Microsoft’s Lumia phones also offer voice activated Cortana assistant via the ‘Hey Cortana’ command.

Aerospace Industry-Grade Aluminium

The new iPhones are made from a new 7000 series aluminium material. Apple says the enclosure is made from the same grade used in the aerospace industry and is the strongest alloy it has ever used in an iPhone.

While Apple was one of the first smart-phone makers to use a metal body, it’s interesting to note that Samsung also used aerospace-grade aluminium in its recent Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge flagship phones.

Source: Times of India

Linux Light Bulbs Allow Devices To Talk To Each Other With Flashes Of Brilliance

Source - TechCrunch

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C- See? See the visible light carrying data quickly and easily from light bulbs to gadgets! -K-E-Y Why? Because light is ubiquitous! M-O-U-S-E!

Disney researchers are working on a new protocol – tentatively called the Linux Light Bulb – that flashes out data using visible light. The bulbs are designed to work with gadgets and toys that may not need a full Wi-Fi or wireless component and instead will read data from he environment. The technology is called Visible Light Communication.

“With Visible Light Communication (VLC), LED light bulbs installed in a room can communicate with each other and other VLC devices (e.g., toys, wearables, clothing). The vision of the Internet of Things requires that light bulbs and VLC devices communicate via the Internet Protocol (IP),” write the researchers.

The creator of the technology, researcher Stefan Mangold, said that VLC could work with a simple system-on-a-chip and a lamp.

“Communication with light enables a true Internet of Things as consumer devices that are equipped with LEDs but not radio links could be transformed into interactive communication nodes,” Mangold said. “We’re not just talking about sensors, smartphones and appliances. This easily could include toys that have LEDs, creating an Internet of Toys in which toys can be accessed, monitored and acted on remotely.”

Because LED bulbs can be programmed the flash out binary codes the system could be implemented in older lighting systems and simply use a mesh network of visible light connections around, say, a house or collection of objects. Now the terrible kids toys your young ones want will have a reason for blinking and, with the advent of sound-based checksum systems, caterwauling like banshees.

Can you think of virtual security guard through a mobile App?

Source - Mashable

Some of the best app ideas are also the most obvious, and that's definitely the case with the Companion app.

The app makes it easy to recruit friends and family to virtually accompany you on your way home at night when you're in areas where you feel less than safe.

And before you poo-poo the app as playing on our fears, try to remember just how many friends you've known who have called you up while walking the streets at night, often in a bid to make sure someone knows that they're safe while traveling in risky circumstances.

This app eliminates the need for a lengthy, possibly nervous conversation packed with small talk and instead offers a dedicated tool designed to increase your feeling of safety.

Companion can be used with anyone in your contacts and those contacts don't need to be users of the app. Simply input your starting point and destination in the app and the software will track your progress, periodically asking "Are you ok?" the software will track your progress, periodically asking "Are you ok?" If you don't respond within 15 seconds, by pressing a large green "Yes" button, the app will automatically notify your designated companion.

But the app's protective features don't end there. If it detects that you've begun running, or that your headphones have been taken out of the smartphone's headphone jack, the app will start its 15-second countdown before contacting your friend or family member.

For university students, the app also comes with the ability to report areas around campus that you feel could be safer by allowing you to select an "I feel nervous" option when in that area. The makers of Companion promise to contact your school's officials upon receiving such reports.

Of course, the app isn't designed to encourage you to start traipsing around sketchy neighborhoods at 3 a.m. by yourself, but at least now you have another, incredibly easy way to put your mind at ease when you find yourself in such situations.

Currently, the app is available as a free download for both iOS and Android.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Remarkably Limber Bionic Arm That Connects To Your Smartphone

As time goes by and technology improves, we are constantly seeing prices for previously groundbreaking technology fall to levels which allow for the adoption of this technology by the masses. 3D printing is one of these technologies, in that now, virtually anyone in the developed world can afford a desktop 3D printer.

At the same time though, other technologies are following in this same path. For example smartphones, tablets and mini computers can now perform tasks that a machine 20 years ago, at 100 times the price, couldn’t even have come close to achieving.

For one company out of Japan, called exiii, this has allowed them to create a myoelectric hand which not only is exponentially more functional than prosthetic hands from a decade ago, but also is available at just a fraction of the price.

In development for several years now, the latest version of exiii’s handiii bionic arm was unveiled last week at SXSW, to the amazement of onlookers. The hand, which takes on the appearance of something very similar to what you’d see in Will Smith’s 2004 film, I, Robot, also has a bit of spider-like look to it when the fingers are bent and flexed.

The greatest benefit of the handii bionic arm, however, is the price tag. Incredibly, unlike other pricey myoelectric hands and arms, which utilise expensive custom built computer systems, the handii uses the simplicity of a smartphone.

An EMG sensor on the wearer’s arm sends signals to the smartphone which processes these signals and then sends a signal back to the hand, telling it which movements to make. In addition, exiii was able to create the hand in such a way that it only takes one motor to control each finger. Even though the fingers consist of three joints each, one motor located at the base joint is able to operate the entire finger.

The handii, which is developed with 3D printing technology, is also very customisable in that it can be purchased in varying colour options. Also the fingers are interchangeable, meaning that different fingers can be added on for different situations. Perhaps you want a finger with a rubbery texture, or perhaps one with an electrical module. Perhaps you just want to change the colour of the fingers. This can all easily be done.

Best of all, exiii is aiming to make the handiii bionic arm open source so that others can take the design and iterate upon it, hopefully improving the design and functionality in the process.

Currently the company is selling a purpose-built robotic hand to enterprises that are interested in using the hand for their research via a form on their website. It should be interesting to see how well this device catches on.

Everyone has a smartphone now-a-days, so the affordability could make this an attractive option for people all around the world who are missing hands.

Source of Article - Wtvox.com

12-Year-Old Indian origin girl beats Einstein and Stephen Hawking's Score On Mensa IQ Test

We come across several cases of child prodigies taking science to another level or becoming distinguished in one or other field. Lydia Sebastian, the 12-year-old girl, is no exception. She has outwitted geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking to gain a perfect score in a Mensa IQ test.

The test consisted of 150 questions, with the maximum score for those less than 18 years of age being 162. The girl outshone all competitors scoring the perfect 162.

The paper challenged her language and logical skills including analogies and definitions. Lydia is about to go into her second year at Colchester County High School for Girls.

Lydia Sebastian was born to an Indian man hailing from Kerala, Arun Sebastian who works as a radiologist at Colchester General Hospital. Her mother Erika Kottiath who works as an associate director with Barclays Bank encouraged the little genius to take the test.  Her parents proudly recall that she was only six months old when she started speaking and has been playing the violin since was 4 years old. Wow, what a brilliant kid!.

As per the website Mirror, Arun Sebastian said, “When I heard she had the maximum possible mark, I was overwhelmed and so was my wife.”

She is known to be the biggest fan of Harry Potter and has read the seven series book three times. Lysa has expressed her desire to make a career in mathematics. Going by present statistics where she surpassed everyone, one has no doubt that she will make a career in mathematics.

How to use WhatsApp without internet?

It’s a distinctly modern problem: you want to talk on WhatsApp but you can’t get an internet connection. If you want to know how to use WhatsApp without internet access, we have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that most of the fixes you’ll already have read about don’t work. The good news? We know one that does.

SOURCE - ANDROID PIT

The fact the app isn’t in Google Play should set another bell going, and the facts that it uses the WhatsApp name without having any connection to WhatsApp the company (its developers are 'Awesome Developers', not WhatsApp Inc) and that it doesn’t use WhatsApp usernames or passwords ("WhatsApp Bluetooth Messenger works with your Bluetooth name," as one bit of blurb put it) should set off more bongs than a drunk burglar bumbling around Snoop Dogg’s house in the dark.

After foisting the All-in-one Downloader and loads of misleading adverts on us, WhatsApp Bluetooth Messenger proved to be a very simplistic bare-bones chat program for chatting over short distances via Bluetooth. And that’s it. We tried to pair it with an iPhone running WhatsApp and we were shocked – shocked! – to discover that it didn’t work.

But we weren’t too upset, because if you want to get a message to somebody who’s within Bluetooth range you can always get their attention by making sounds with your mouth, writing them a note, or faking your own death in a manner so outrageous, so loud and so convincing that they’ll come rushing over to give you CPR. Those options don’t require the internet either, and they also won’t blast you with annoying ads.

How to use WhatsApp without internet: using WhatsApp via SMS

You can’t use WhatsApp via SMS either. The whole point of WhatsApp is that it uses your internet connection instead of phone networks’ often-expensive SMS systems, so WhatsApp-ing over SMS would be a strange thing for the firm to offer. It’d be a bit like Uber offering to call a yellow cab, or Airbnb recommending a hotel.

How to use WhatsApp without internet: using ChatSIM

Technically, using ChatSIM does use the internet – but it uses somebody else’s internet, so that doesn’t really count. It’s a roaming service: so if you’re in a location where you can’t get your usual phone network provider’s data signal, or if you’re traveling and there’s no Wi-Fi around and data roaming is prohibitively expensive, then ChatSIM might be the answer.

It’s a chat-specific global SIM card that’s struck deals with a whole range of mobile operators to deliver data and MMS services. With the SIM installed everything’s automatic: if you’re in range of a partner’s data service, your phone connects to it and you can WhatsApp away to your heart’s content.

ChatSIM costs €10 for a year of unlimited chats and texts (provided you behave yourself: you mustn’t repeatedly exceed the average daily traffic limit, which is defined as: "the average traffic exchanged by all active basic rate ChatSim cards"). If you want to share multimedia content such as photos and videos or make voice calls you’ll need to buy a 'recharge', which costs €25 for 250 MB of traffic. Recharges expire after 30 days.

It’s important to note that ChatSIM is all about chat, chat and nothing but chat. If you read the press blurb you’ll see that it actually blocks traffic from non-chat apps in order to keep chat apps running smoothly, so it’s not a solution if you want a fully functional internet connection when you’re traveling. For that, you’ll need a SIM with data roaming, not just chat.

Do you live your life on WhatsApp? And if you do, do you go through the seven stages of grief when you can’t get a data connection? Let us know in the comments!

Blackberry buys Good Technology to further expand into mobile device security

Blackberry is especially interested in its former competitor's experience with securing iOS devices

SOURCE - PCWORD.COM

Blackberry has moved further into the mobile device management space by purchasing Good Technology for US$425 million [m].

Good Technology sells enterprise mobile security products and was Blackberry’s competitor. Blackberry called out Good for claiming it was the first company to add a special billing feature to its products.

A separate blog post on Friday discussing the merger made note of this history, saying the companies have taken “aggressive positions” through the years.

But BlackBerry has put the companies’ war of words behind it, as it is evidently more focused on beefing up its mobile security technology than on holding on to corporate grudges. As Blackberry’s once popular phones have fallen out of fashion at companies, the company is trying to find a new niche securing phones as well as connected devices that are part of the Internet of Things.

The Canadian company still sells handsets. However, at a conference in July, Blackberry CEO John Chen emphasized the company’s enterprise mobile security plans, saying acquisitions would go toward building a secure mobile platform.

Good fits into that picture with its experience securing multiple platforms, especially devices running iOS, an area where Blackberry lacks expertise, Chen said on a call to discuss the merger. According to Blackberry, 64 percent of devices that use Good’s products run iOS.

Good’s customers also include Android and Windows users, allowing Blackberry to offer customers products for their preferred mobile OS, it said. 

Blackberry will merge its platform with Good’s products, but there isn’t a timeline for this process, Chen said.

Analyst Jack Gold from J. Gold Associates called the deal a win for both companies in principle, but warned that integrating their products and their organizations won’t be easy.

“BlackBerry does have experience here with its many recent acquisitions, but Good has much more technology to integrate than previous acquisitions,” Gold wrote in a research note emailed to the media. “And the culture of the two companies is different, especially since it’s clear that there was no love lost between the top staff.”

Gold estimates that the corporate and technology integration process will take a year or more. “Assuming that the two products can be integrated successfully and only the complementary ‘best of the two’ remain, this is a good acquisition for BlackBerry and a good exit strategy for Good,” he wrote.

With Good’s acquisition, Blackberry expects to record an additional $160 million in revenue during the first year. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter and is subject to regulatory approval. 

Other companies Blackberry has bought to bolster its enterprise mobile security products include AtHoc, which makes a software platform for sending out alerts to mobile devices, WatchDog, which offered software to securely share documents, and SecuSmart, whose technology encrypts telephone messages.