Implant shocks patient’s spines, restores partial use of paralyzed limbs
Remember that spinal implant that helped a paraplegic man walk (albeit in a harness) back in 2011? It’s now been tested on three more partially paralyzed patients — and it’s working. The original device was a 16-electrode array that emitted small pulses of electricity to the spine, simulating the brain’s natural impulses. With intensive therapy and training patients have been able to regain limited control over their paralyzed extremities.
Nobody is walking just yet, but the recent study’s success (published in Brain, a neurology journal) proves that the treatment works on a wider range of patients. It also demonstrates that the results of the original experiment can be replicated. It’s still a long way from a cure for paralysis, but the paper’s authors are optimistic about its future application, stating that “we can now envision a day where epidural stimulation might be part of a cocktail of therapies used to treat paralysis.” Read the study for yourself in Brain, or skip past the break to see the patients trying out their new implants.
[Image credit: UCLA]
Filed under: Misc
Via: iO9
Cellular competition shrinks as Verizon swallows another small-time carrier
While many have been fretting over the possibility of reduced cellular competition if Sprint buys T-Mobile, some real reduction has just taken place. Cincinnati Bell has sold all of its spectrum to Verizon for $210 million, removing itself from the wireless industry. The regional carrier’s network will run as usual until the deal’s expected closure in the second half of 2014, but the company plans to move customers to other providers shortly after that. It’s bowing out because it simply can’t afford to compete — it’s too “economically challenging” to build an advanced network, CEO Ted Torbeck says. The move should help Cincinnati Bell concentrate on its fiber internet and TV plans, but it’s not great news for subscribers who’d like to hold on to as many carrier choices as possible.
[Image credit: Robert Donovan, Flickr]
Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Verizon
Source: Cincinnati Bell (1), (2)
March Madness 2014 was live streamed nearly 70 million times
Hey, look, we all know the Super Bowl is a pretty big deal. But March Madness isn’t that far off, both in terms of viewership and the great dose of excitement it injects into fans. And there are numbers to prove it too. According to Turner Sports, an NCAA partner, March Madness Live 2014 shattered all previous online viewing records for the tournament, netting a total of 69.7 million live streams. That statistic takes into account the different platforms in which the service was available this year, which included a website as well as apps on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows devices.
In retrospect, Turner reports that March Madness Live 2014 streams grew by 42 percent compared to last year, while TV Everywhere (aka sites and apps from pay-TV providers) also saw an increase in usage during the basketball tournament, with an 85 percent growth from March Madness 2013. All in all, the NCAA can be pleased by the response from people in 2014, who clearly took advantage of the streaming options it was able to provide in association with CBS, Turner Sports and cable/satellite companies.
[Image credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP]
Source: Turner Sports
Apple Calls in Experts to Explain Why Samsung Owes $2B in Damages
In the ongoing Samsung vs. Apple lawsuit, two experts hired by Apple took the stand on Tuesday to explain to the jury why Samsung deserves to pay $2 billion in damages for infringing on Apple’s patents.
First up was John Hauser, a professor of marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who argued (via CNET) that the specific features patented by Apple, such as slide to unlock, made Samsung’s devices far more appealing to consumers.
To reach that conclusion, Hauser surveyed 966 Samsung device users (507 phone owners and 459 tablet owners) to measure the percentage of consumers who would buy devices with specific features, including universal search, background syncing, quick links, automatic word correction, and slide-to-unlock, among others.
Those metrics were then used to determine how much people would pay for the Apple-patented features that Samsung included in its devices, with Hauser coming to the conclusion that customers would shell out $32 to $102 for each feature.
“The features that were enabled by the patents at issue in this case have a measurable impact on consumer demand for Samsung devices,” Hauser said during his testimony Tuesday.
During cross examination, Samsung objected to Hauser’s methodology, which had concluded that Samsung largely sold devices due to the features copied from Apple, and criticized it for overlooking the importance of the Samsung brand and the Android operating system.
Following Hauser’s testimony, MIT-trained economist Chris Vellturo took the stand (via Re/code) to explain how Apple arrived at its $2 billion number. The damages, he said, are a mix of lost profits and estimated reasonable royalties on the millions Samsung devices that have been accused of infringing on Apple’s patents.
“It’s a very large market and Samsung has made a lot of sales into that market,” Vellturo said, before getting into the specifics of how he came to his estimate. Samsung’s alleged infringement, he said, came at a time of dramatic growth in the market as many people were buying their first smartphone.
“It’s a particularly significant period for Samsung to have been infringing,” Vellturo said, adding that one’s first smartphone purchase is a key determining factor in future phone and tablet purchases. He added that Samsung was behind in ease of use and took Apple’s know-how to aid its effort to be more competitive.
In the original Apple vs. Samsung trial, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $890 million in damages. The latest suit focuses on newer devices, including the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, the iPhone 4/4s/5, the iPad 2/3/4, the iPad mini, and fourth and fifth generation iPod touch.
Following today’s expert testimony, Apple is nearing the end of its case against Samsung. Next week, Samsung will present its infringement case against Apple, where it is asking for $7 million in damages. The entire trial is expected to continue until April 29 or 30, at which point the jury will enter deliberations.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS launches this summer, Wii U version due in winter
Jonesing for a new Super Smash Bros. game? Hope you own a 3DS: Nintendo has announced that the mobile version of the series’ latest entry will land first, debuting this summer. The Wii U version will arrive this year too, but it won’t be available until winter, presumably to make the most out of the holiday season. Nintendo teased the launch windows with a tweet right before today’s Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Direct, where Masahiro Sakurai (the game’s director) updated players on the game’s latest development.
In addition to showing off the standard deluge of stages and new characters (Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Yoshi and Pokemon’s Charizard and Greninja, specifically), Sakurai explained the new games’ disparate multiplayer modes: “For Fun” and “For Glory.” Gamers playing “for fun” will play with randomized items and stages, counting only victories to the players record – gamers looking for glory, however, will play on simple, flat stages with no items. In “For Glory” mode, both wins and losses count against the player’s record. Finally the 3DS version comes with an exclusive battle game called “Smash Run,” where up to four players navigate a timed obstacle course to collect power ups and fight enemies before ultimately facing each other in a final battle. Miss Nintendo’s live broadcast? Not to worry: we’ve embedded the full presentation after the break.
Via: Joystiq
Source: Nintendo
Authentic spacesuits, rockets and more up for auction in NYC
Imagine what your friends will say when they notice your brand new space rocket just chillin’ in the corner of your living room. Bonhams in NYC has plenty of items to make your neighbors jealous at its Space History Sale, a collection of 296 items from US and Soviet missions past. The big event celebrates Project Gemini, NASA’s first unmanned test flight, which took place on April 8, 1964 (what better way to party than to sell some stuff?).
You can grab yourself everything from a real-life space station control panel to some (pretty gross looking) coffee and tea containers from previous missions. The epic silver spacesuit pictured above already sold for $44,000, even though it’s too damaged to wear while playing a round of golf on the moon. But, if you’re in the market for a new suit there are still a few more available. You can even take home a little bit of history with one of three known casts of Buzz Aldrin’s footprint from the lunar surface. If you do buy that rocket prepare to be a little disappointed: it’s only a model.
Via: Gizmag
Source: Bonhams
What does Twitter want with Cover’s Android lock screen? A smarter smartphone, duh
Imagine your Twitter app immediately surfacing tweets about a nearby earthquake or disaster without you having to enter a single keyword search. Or one-step switching between Instagram and Twitter so you can see if that filtered photo of your cat received any favorites. Or a notification that brings up a favorite restaurant’s Twitter account around dinnertime so you can see its daily specials. And imagine if it was all only possible because you had an Android phone.
When the news broke yesterday that Twitter bought Cover, a company that makes an Android lock screen app, the first question that hit me, was, well, why? Much like Facebook’s Oculus buy, the deal doesn’t make much sense at first blush. The seemingly obvious answer would be that the company plans to build a Twitter-based lock screen — essentially a Twitter version of Facebook Home. Which, let’s face it, doesn’t sound like a great idea. Not only does it seem rather shortsighted for Twitter just to mimic another company’s mobile efforts, but also Facebook Home wasn’t exactly a resounding success. Instead, I think it’s another example of Twitter’s penchant for experimentation. If you combine Cover’s context-aware tricks along with Twitter’s desire to build a better Android experience, you could get one very intelligent Twitter app.
Much like Facebook’s Oculus buy, the deal doesn’t make much sense at first blush.
Twitter, as we already know, is not afraid of experiments. In a blog post published by the company last year, it states the developer and design teams constantly perform test trials in order to suss out what Twitter needs to evolve. Some efforts are more experimental than others of course, but the end goal is always to come up with a better product, be it improvements to login verification or simply a new profile page. Perhaps due to some criticism of its Android app, Twitter has been particularly keen on improving the experience on Google’s mobile OS. Indeed, it launched a beta tester program for Android users back in August and then an even earlier Alpha program in November, both of which were rich ground for these so-called experiments. Results have been mixed. A major redesign seeded out to testers late last year for example, was completely scrapped partially due to poor feedback. This is where Cover comes in.
In our interview with Cover co-founder Todd Jackson last October, he was extremely bullish on Android as a platform. “We’re making a huge bet on Android, that this will be the operating system that billions of users will adopt over the next several years,” he said. Not only can you not customize the iPhone’s lock screen to your heart’s desire, he told us, but also developers simply do not have the keys to the iPhone’s sensors like they would with Android.
“We’re making a huge bet on Android, that this will be the operating system that billions of users will adopt over the next several years,” Cover co-founder Todd Jackson said.
Tapping into those sensors is exactly how Cover differentiates itself from just an ordinary lock screen replacement. Rather than just a static list of app shortcuts, Cover utilizes the phone’s internals to surface the most oft-used apps depending on your location, time of day and even whether you’re in the car or on foot. If you’re at home, for example, your lock screen might float Netflix and Pandora to the top, while work-related apps like email and stocks would be more prominent when you’re in the office. More than just a lock screen replacement, Cover also works throughout the phone as a smarter app switcher. When you’re in the email app, for example, you can easily swap out to an app like the browser or maps, because those two are the ones you’d most likely reference while typing out a letter. “We want this to be like Alt-Tab for mobile, so you can jump directly between apps lightning fast,” said Jackson. You can test it out while Cover is still available from the Play Store.
I don’t doubt that it’s these unique quirks that won the hearts and minds at Twitter. In Cover’s announcement yesterday, the newly acquired firm stated: “Twitter, like Cover, believes in the incredible potential for Android. They share our vision that smartphones can be a lot smarter — more useful and more contextual — and together we’re going to make that happen.” And who wouldn’t want a smarter smartphone?
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
MediaFire Takes Aim at Google Drive with 1TB of Storage for $2.50 a Month (Promo)
The headlines lately have been pretty intense regarding cloud storage and the amount of space for a the price. Google recently dropped their monthly Drive prices to offer insane amounts of cloud storage. Seriously, $10 a month for a terabyte (1000GBs) of storage is pretty amazing. Dropbox on the other hand only hands over 100GBs for the same $9.99 and Box does 100 GB’s per month for $5. Google clearly has the underhand right now. However, MediaFire is taking aim at the giant with some pretty stellar promotions and new features.
MediaFire is now offering 1TB of cloud storage for $5 a month. That cuts Drives price in half. To add to the promotion, new customers can pick up 1TB of space for $2.49 a month or pay out $24.99 for a whole year. In addition to the promo, a number of improvements and updates have also just been released.
New MediaFire Features
- Follow Files: share, collaborate, and track new files shared by users, automatically
- No File Upload Restrictions: Both free and paid accounts can upload any size file, up to 20 gigs in size
- Up to 50 gigs of cloud storage for free: Start with 10 GB and earn up to 50 GB in bonus space by installing MediaFire apps or inviting friends.
- 1 TB Pro Storage Plans: For a limited time, new users can sign up for just 2.50 a month, or 24.99 a year
“With the launch of our new storage plans, we are looking to provide everyday users with a secure and affordable way to share and store all of their music, photos, videos, and files with the people that matter most,“ said Derek Labian, CEO and Founder of MediaFire, “Over the next few months, we will be launching several new and exciting products, including new and updated applications for iPad and Android. Stay Tuned!”
You will get the most out of your MediaFire account if you install the the desktop client and the Android app. The deal is pretty hard to pass up on. If you don’t have a mediaFire account yet, feel free to head over to MediaFire.com and sign-up. you get 10GB for free regardless, but I think you might find that you like their layout, app and service enough to spend a little cash for the promotion, just because.
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iPhone Remains Popular With Teens as iPad Interest Plateaus
Apple’s iPhone continues to grow in popularity with U.S. teenagers, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster’s latest semiannual teen survey [PDF], which asked 7,500 teens about their device preferences. 61 percent of teens now own an iPhone, compared to 55 percent from a survey conducted in October 2013 and 40 percent in the fall of 2012.
67 percent of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up slightly from October’s survey. When it comes to tablets, 60 percent of teens own one, up from 56 percent in the fall. 66 percent of those own an iPad (55% full-sized, 11% mini), which is down slightly from 68 percent, with ownership shifting further towards the mini. 18 percent of teens who don’t own a tablet expect to buy one in the next sixth months and of those prospective buyers, 66 percent plan to choose an iPad.
The Spring 2014 survey also covered prospective teen interest in an Apple smart watch, which the company is said to be developing. Of the 7,500 teenagers surveyed, six percent currently own a smart watch and 17 percent of teens would buy an iWatch if Apple were to sell it for $350 or less.
The bigger takeaway from our survey is that 17% of teens suggested they would be interested in an iWatch, which we believe is an indication of consumer thirst for not only the iWatch specifically, but the new product categories that have been promised by Apple.
In the past, Samsung has attempted to position its Galaxy phones as the choice for teenagers by portraying the iPhone as “uncool,” but this marketing tactic appears to be largely unsuccessful given the segment’s growing interest in Apple products.
Despite the iPhone’s popularity, the iPad has become slightly less popular with teenagers as competitors like Google and Kindle have released more affordable options. Android tablets in particular have seen consistent growth among teens, even after the launch of the Retina iPad mini and the thinner and lighter iPad Air.
Must See HDTV for the week of April 8th: Desolation of Smaug, Mad Men and Justified
Now that the men’s NCAA basketball tournament is over, it’s back to the post-March Madness grind. The second Hobbit movie is out on Blu-ray this week, but TV viewers will be waiting until Sunday for the premiere of the final season of Mad Men. Tonight though, we’re tuning in to the season finale of Justified as our favorite Elmore Leonard character stomps around the hills and valleys of Kentucky doing his U.S. Marshal thing. Today is also the day the world is introduced to Titanfall on Xbox 360. Check after the break for trailers plus our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (3D)
- August: Osage County
- Grudge Match
- Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
- Funny Face
- Titanfall (Xbox 360)
- Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut (Xbox One, PS4)
- Kinect Sports Rivals
- Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (Xbox 360)
- Lego: The Hobbit (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS3)
Tuesday
- NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: UCONN/Notre Dame, ESPN, 8PM
- Glee, Fox, 8PM
- Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Nets/Heat, TNT, 8PM
- NCIS, CBS, 8PM
- The Dave Clark Five, PBC, 8PM
- Capitals/Blues, NBC Sports Network, 8PM
- The Mindy Project, Fox, 9PM
- From Dusk Till Dawn, El Rey Network, 9PM
- About a Boy, NBC, 9PM
- Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
- The Goldbergs, ABC, 9PM
- NCIS: LA, CBS, 9PM
- Growing Up Fisher, NBC, 9:30PM
- Trophy Wife, ABC, 9:30PM
- Chicago Fire, NBC, 10PM
- The Listener, ION, 10 & 11PM
- Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, Syfy, 10PM
- Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, BBC America, 10PM
- Game of Arms, AMC, 10PM
- Mind Games, ABC, 10PM
- The Profit, CNBC, 10PM
- Justified (season finale), FX, 10PM
- Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Inside Amy Schumer, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Rockets/Lakers, TNT, 10:30PM
Wednesday
- Survivor, CBS, 8PM
- Melissa & Joey, ABC Family, 8PM
- American Idol, Fox, 8PM
- Red Wings/Penguins, NBC Sports Network, 8PM
- Heat/Grizzlies, ESPN, 8PM
- Suburgatory, ABC, 8:30PM
- Baby Daddy, ABC Family, 8:30PM
- The 100, CW, 9PM
- Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
- Jim Rome on Showtime, Showtime, 9PM
- Mixology, ABC, 9:30PM
- The Americans, FX, 10PM
- Legit, FXX, 10PM
- Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Chicago PD, NBC, 10PM
- CSI, CBS, 10PM
- Triptank, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Deal With It, TBS, 10:30PM
- Ali G: Rezurection, FXX, 10:30PM
- Thunder/Clippers, ESPN, 10:30PM
Thursday
- Community, NBC, 8PM
- The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
- Spurs/Mavericks, TNT, 8PM
- Blues/Wild, NBC Sports Network, 8PM
- Parks & Recreation, NBC, 8:30PM
- The Millers, CBS, 8:30PM
- American Idol, Fox, 9PM
- Saint George, FX, 9PM
- Suits (season finale), USA, 9PM
- Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 9PM
- Reign, CW, 9PM
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9PM
- Surviving Jack, Fox, 9:30PM
- Anger Management, FX, 9:30PM
- The Crazy Ones, CBS, 9:30PM
- Real World/Road Rules Challenge, MTV, 10PM
- Review with Forrest Macneil, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Portlandia, IFC, 10PM
- Scandal, ABC, 10PM
- Vikings, History, 10PM
- Parenthood, NBC, 10PM
- Sirens, USA, 10PM
- Nuggets/Warriors, TNT, 10:30PM
Friday
- Unforgettable, CBS, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?, CW, 8PM
- The Neighbors (season finale), ABC, 8:30PM
- Hart of Dixie, CW, 9PM
- Bellator MMA Live, Spike TV, 9PM
- Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
- Mad Dog: Inside the Secret World of Muammar Gaddafi, 9:30PM
- Continuum, Syfy, 10PM
- Hannibal, NBC, 10PM
- Vice, HBO, 11PM
Saturday
- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Darlington, Fox, 6PM
- Death Clique, Lifetime, 8PM
- Bermuda Tentacles, Syfy, 9PM
- Orphan Black: The Cloneversation (special), BBC America, 8PM
- Ripper Street (season finale), BBC America, 9PM
- Da Vinci’s Demons, Starz, 9PM
- Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran, NBC, 11:30PM
- Dave Attell: Road Work, Comedy Central, 11:59PM
- Comedy Underground with Dave Attell (series premiere), Comedy Central, 1AM
Sunday
- Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 7PM
- American Dad, Fox, 7:30PM
- Red Sox/Yankees, ESPN, 8PM
- The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
- Once Upon a Time, ABC, 8PM
- The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
- Family Guy, Fox, 8:30PM
- Nurse Jackie (season premiere), Showtime, 9PM
- 2014 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 9PM
- Game of Thrones, HBO, 9PM
- Mr. Selfridge, PBS, 9PM
- Overhaulin, Velocity, 9PM
- Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, Fox, 9PM
- Believe, NBC, 9PM
- Resurrection, ABC, 9PM
- Turn, AMC, 9PM
- Californication (season premiere), Showtime, 9:30PM
- Mad Men (season premiere), AMC, 10PM
- Bletchley Circle (series premiere), PBS, 10PM
- Years of Living Dangerously (series premiere), Showtime, 10PM
- Silicon Valley, HBO, 10PM
- Crisis, NBC, 10PM
- Revenge, ABC, 10PM
- The Mentalist, CBS, 10PM
- Veep, HBO, 10:30PM
- Robot Chicken (season premiere), Cartoon Network, 11:30PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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