Heartbeat chip tests medicine based on your natural rhythms
Scientists can simulate organs on chips when testing medicine, but mimicking your natural rhythm is another matter — it’s hard to know if those drugs will behave properly under the stresses of your body. That won’t be a problem when the University of Michigan’s newly developed testing chip comes into play. The device uses microscopic, gravity-powered fluid channels to replicate heartbeats and other natural flows (such as brain signals) when testing chemicals. You’ll know if that treatment works properly when the patient’s heart is racing, for example. And unlike previous attempts at emulating heartbeats, you don’t need to stick around pumping fluid yourself — you can conduct long-term tests that reflect what would happen in a real body over time.
The best part? Researchers can use this chip much sooner than other experimental medical tech, since it’s only going to be used in the lab. There aren’t any plans to sell it; instead, the University expects to share the design with other scientists in a “matter of months.” If you end up needing heart medicine in the future, you may well get drugs that are genuinely in tune with the way your body works.
[Image credit: Michigan Engineering, Flickr]
Filed under: Science
Source: University of Michigan
Saygus V2 approaching vaporware, delayed to the Fall and begins suspicious Indiegogo campaign
Rewinding back to CES at the beginning of the year, all of us were thrown-back by a super phone almost too good to be true, the Saygus V2, from a company no one heard of. Unfortunately, it is appearing as if the V2 is in fact, too good to be true.
After encountering a few setbacks throughout the year, with no release date as of yet, it seems that Saygus is reaching desperate measures with the start of an Indiegogo campaign for its seemingly ill-fated V2. For those unfamiliar with Indiegogo, it is a similar deal to Kickstarter, where fans pledge a certain amount of money to improve the prospects making a product reality and getting it into their hands sooner (if at all).
This is certainly not good news for a device that started its pre-order back in February. The funding goal Saygus set on Indiegogo is one million dollars, and for the optimistic folk, the pot is already at about $860K.
This phone drew so much attention due to its loaded spec list:
- 5″ 1080P display
- Snapdragon 801 SoC
- 3GB RAM
- 21MP (OIS) rear and 13MP front cameras
- 64GB on-board storage, expandable with two microSD card slots up to 200GB each, for a total of 464GB
- Dual speakers with Harman Kardon technology
- 3100 mAh removable battery
- Waterproof
- Qi wireless charging
- Fingerprint scanner
The Saygus V2 was initially priced at $549 off-contract, but now according to the Indiegogo campaign, the “Early bird” price is $600, and the standard price is $650. The new promise is to get the devices out in “Fall 2015″.
How do you feel about the developments of the V2? Not to be harsh, but we probably should have not kept our hopes high following the CES announcement. Not saying the V2 will in fact be vaporware, but it has happened before.
The post Saygus V2 approaching vaporware, delayed to the Fall and begins suspicious Indiegogo campaign appeared first on AndroidGuys.
4K support and bug fixes part of Nvidia Shield Android TV update
Are you an owner of a Nvidia Shield Android TV unit? Have you been taking 4K pictures of your dog running around trying to catch that evil red dot but you have not been able to enjoy them on the big screen? Maybe your Nvidia Shield Android TV has been acting up lately? Well, if you fall into any of those categories, I am happy to announce that Nvidia has released an update to the Nvidia Shield Android TV that bring along some cool new features and performance enhancements.
Starting today, you will be able to update your Nvidia Shield Android TV to version 1.2 and enjoy 4K support for the Photos and Video app on the device. Which is great news for all those that might have just spent a decent amount of money on a brand new 4K TV only to find that you can’t use it to its full potential with your Nvidia Shield Android TV. Also included in the update are bug fixes through the system that bring along improvements for Netflix and Google Play Video streaming, faster Shield Remote performance and better GameSteam support to name a few. With all of these new improvements, you care going to find yourself fusing your Nvidia Shield Android TV a lot more than you did before. Good thing that the Nvidia Shield Android TV will now notify you when the battery is getting low, so you don’t get caught staying at a black wall after binge watching on Netflix.
Source
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Samsung Galaxy S6 Active survives 12-foot drop test unharmed
On Saturday, June 13, Jeremy Judkins, the proud owner of a brand new Galaxy S6 Active, took to his YouTube channel in order to share a drop test he recorded of the handset. In the short clip, Judkins taxes the durability of the device by dropping it from various different heights all of which are in accordance with real-life scenarios and every single time the handset emerges unharmed.
Check it out after the break.
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S6 Active survives 12-foot drop test unharmed
Humble Bundle launches the BulkyPix Mobile Bundle
The folks over at Humble Bundle have launched yet another “pay what you want” deal, this time the E3 conference is very much the order of the day. The new “Humble BulkyPix Mobile Bundle” contains seven popular games along with a free bonus one entitled “Dark Lands”.
Whilst users can pay any price they want to get their hands on the latest Humble Bundle deal, they will have to beat the average price of $3.83 to gain access to all eight games. If not and they choose to give a donation lower than the medium, they will only get access to the following four titles: Type:Rider, Meltdown, iPollute and Pretentious Game.
The full list of eight games included in “BulkyPix Mobile Bundle” can be seen below:
- Type:Rider
- Meltdown
- iPollute
- Pretentious Game
- Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf
- Corto Maltese
- Twin Blades
- Dark Lands
If you wish to download the Humble Bundle application for Android — click the download link below.
Download: Play Store
Come comment on this article: Humble Bundle launches the BulkyPix Mobile Bundle
Saygus delays the V2 smartphone again, launches flex funding campaign to raise some extra money
The Saygus V2 was originally unveiled way back at CES 2015, and we actually got to spend some quality hands-on time with the device. Toting two SD card slots for a potential total of 464GB of local storage, the device gained quite a few headlines back then for its multimedia-centric features. Since its unveiling, the launch date for the V2 (pronounced V-squared) has been delayed two times already, leaving fans of the smartphone and early backers questioning whether they’ll ever get to see the device in real life. And now Saygus has pushed back the launch of the device yet again, this time asking interested folk to donate to the company’s new Indiegogo campaign so the launch goes smoothly.
So, why is the company having trouble releasing the smartphone? Mainly it has to do with manufacturing issues. The company explains:
We recently informed our customers who pre-registered for our phone that the shipment will be delayed due to our need to switch manufacturers because they were not meeting our stringent quality requirements.
Saygus has launched an flex funding campaign to help with its financial woes
Saygus says that as conciliation for the delay while it changes manufacturers, the V2 will now come with two SIM card slots and an upgrade to Android 5.1 Lollipop, up from the original software that was running 4.4 KitKat. The company has also announced on Twitter that the device will now feature a USB Type C port, and that folks who pre-ordered the device will receive their units before Indiegogo backers. If you already paid for your device, you can cancel at any time, or wait for the new units to ship out (hopefully) by this fall.
The company is trying to raise $1 million to help with the extra costs of switching manufacturers, though the Indiegogo campaign gives off a shady vibe to it already. The campaign just launched earlier today, and Saygus has already raise upwards of $850K, thanks to over 1,000 anonymous backers that pledged their money before the campaign went live. Obviously this is Saygus adding in pre-orders that have already been placed to make the campaign look more successful, but that’s not very honest, now is it? It should be noted that this is also a flex funding campaign, so any money raised will be awarded to the company, no matter if the $1 million goal is reached or not.
Whether you get a funny feeling about the campaign or not is subjective, but I personally feel like this should be going a little smoother if the company was serious about producing a smartphone. Be sure to check out the Indiegogo campaign by following the source link below.
What are your thoughts on the company’s new financial strategy? Are you still interested in the device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
OS X El Capitan Review Roundup: Not Hugely Different From Yosemite, but Adds New Conveniences
At its Worldwide Developer’s Conference last week, Apple introduced OS X 10.11 El Capitan, the newest version of its Mac-based operating system. At the time, Apple provided the software both to registered developers and to members of the media. Media reviews are hitting the web, giving us our first in-depth opinions on OS X El Capitan.
We’ve rounded up details from some of the best reviews in order to give MacRumors readers a look at OS X El Capitan from the perspective of people who have used it extensively over the course of the last week. Each of the reviews is worth reading in full to get a feel for how OS X El Capitan builds upon the features introduced with OS X Yosemite.
Lauren Goode, Re/code:
The most notable I’ve-seen-this-before feature in OS X El Capitan is Split View: Now, two apps can run in split view on a full screen. Finally! Mail and TweetDeck side by side throughout the day, on a full screen, without having to manually drag windows into place. Of course, Microsoft Windows has had this “snap” feature for years.
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
I use Mail a lot. Unfortunately, I’ve had some trouble lately with Mail on Yosemite getting stuck while checking IMAP connections, especially after I wake the computer from sleep. All I ask for in El Capitan is for that to be fixed.
The good news is that it seems much better in this beta version of the operating system. Apple said Mail in El Capitan delivers an improved IMAP engine, so I’m very hopeful. I haven’t had Mail stop working yet and I’m a week into using it–that’s a damn good sign.
Lance Ulanoff, Mashable:
The differences between Apple OS X Yosemite and El Capitan are so subtle that it often feels like one of those puzzles where you have to spot 11 differences between two photos. Considering Yosemite was a lauded OS overhaul, this isn’t a bad thing, but the best way to sum up Apple’s OS update is this: If you like Yosemite, you’ll like El Capitan, too. […]
Apple tweaked system performance to improve mail load times and application launches, but it was hard for me to tell the difference. Did it seem fast? Yes. Does Yosemite also seem fast? Yes. I did notice one very beta glitch when I unexpected ran out of system memory in El Capitan.
Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch:
Now, Apple has added a lot of muscle to Notes in 10.11, turning into a much better competitor not only for other text editors, but for things like Evernote, too. You can integrate images, PDFs, videos and other media right into notes via drag-and-drop insertion, for instance, and crate checklists out of line-separated items with a single click.
Formatting ensures that you can create headers, paragraph styles, bold and italicize text and you can attach from your Photos app directly. Open content from other apps directly in Notes, too, using the Share menu across OS X, and even add stuff like Maps locations, spreadsheets and more. Folders keep things more organized, and thumbnails provide easy identification of what’s within a Note from the sidebar menu when you’re including media.
Dieter Bohn, The Verge:
Why would you choose Apple’s solutions in El Capitan? Because they’re all so tightly integrated. Maps talks to Notes, Calendar talks to Mail, and all of them talk to Spotlight. All of those interconnections and digital conversations could subtly drive you to opt for Apple apps instead of whatever you might have been using before. Think of it like Continuity, but inside the computer instead of between devices. And all of it works incredibly well.
Dana Wollman, Engadget:
Some of my favorite updates are in Safari, though many would rightfully argue that these improvements aren’t necessarily novel. In fact, some appear to take after features already offered in Chrome, and other competing browsers. For instance, there’s now an option to identify which tab is playing sound. From there, you can hit a mute button on the tab itself, or click the speaker icon in the address bar. The latter option comes in handy when you have sound coming from multiple tabs — say, a song you meant to stream, and an auto-playing video ad in the other. By clicking the sound icon in the URL bar, you can see a list of all the tabs playing sound and selectively mute the one that’s bothering you.
Perhaps my favorite new feature is the addition of pinned sites. They sort of form a bookmarks bar, only better: Here, these tabs can’t be closed, and because they look like shrunken buttons, they take up much less space than a regular tab.
Rene Ritchie, iMore:
Thanks to a new CoreSpotlight API, developers can now make the content in their apps, including documents, messages, and more, available to Spotlight as well. That means it’ll be even easier to find what we’re looking for, no matter where it’s contained.
I’ve tried LaunchBar, Alfred, and Quicksilver, but none of them ever stuck: Spotlight has always been my go-to. Yosemite made it significantly more functional, but natural language and the new results engine promises to make it integral to the Mac experience. I’m really looking forward to using it full-time come the fall.
Other Reviews:
Ryan Smith, AnandTech
David Pierce, Wired
Ed Baig, USA Today
David Pogue, Yahoo
OS X El Capitan is currently only available to registered developers. Apple has plans to introduce a public beta test of the software in July, following that with a fall public release. For detailed information on all of the new features in OS X El Capitan, make sure to check out our El Capitan roundup.
iOS 9 Code Suggests 12.93-Inch ‘iPad Pro’ Could Have 2732×2048 Display
Taiwanese iOS developer Hiraku Wang has shared further iOS 9 beta code (via Steven Troughton-Smith) that suggests the 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” could have a 2,732×2,048 pixels display at 264 PPI based on Apple’s @2x high-resolution modifier. The findings corroborate a DisplaySearch report from last January, in which the research firm said that Apple had a tablet display with a resolution of 2,732×2,048 pixels and 265 PPI under development.
Apple’s existing lineup of iPads with Retina displays, ranging from the third-generation iPad to iPad Air 2, each have 9.7-inch screens at 264 PPI, so it would make sense that the larger 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” would have a scaled up resolution with the same pixel density. Specifically, a 2,732×2,048 display with 264 PPI points towards an approximately 12.93″ diagonal screen size. As a @2x display, this would represent 1,366×1,024 points as shown in the onscreen dimensions for the keyboard.
Earlier today, iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith discovered that the new iPad keyboard on iOS 9 beta is capable of scaling to a larger size with rearranged keys, providing further evidence that Apple could be planning to release the much-rumored 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” in the future. The A9-based tablet is rumored to feature a flexible display with increased pressure sensitivity, built-in NFC chip, Force Touch, USB-C port and possibly a pressure-sensitive Bluetooth stylus.
Samsung Galaxy Tab E now official for Taiwan
Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Tab E for all those living in Taiwan. Sporting a 9.6-inch display, Android 4.4 and 1.5GB of Ram, its a mid-range device that that looks very similar to its flagship siblings. Also included is a 1.3GHz processor quad-core processor, 8GB of internal storage, micro-sd slot, and a 5,000 mAh battery. That’s a pretty big battery, enough to get you through a single day of heavy usage and then some.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab E is only slated to release in Taiwan at this moment but may make its way over to the states in due time. While the Galaxy Tab E is not a behemoth when it comes to specs, it still offers decent hardware that should get most users through their technological needs. Costing only $225, its also not terribly expensive though you can probably find a better deal elsewhere if you not dead set on owning a Samsung device.
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Xbox One ‘Rainbow Six Siege’ will come with both ‘Vegas’ games
To accompany today’s news that Xbox One will soon be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, Ubisoft just announced that Rainbow Six: Vegas and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 will be free for anyone that buys the latest game in the franchise, Rainbow Six: Siege. Although no one has explained exactly how this’ll work, all Xbox 360 games will need to be downloaded (rather than played by disc), so you’d assume Seige will arrive with download codes for both titles. Ubi is the second developer to announce such a deal today, as Bethesda is giving away Fallout 3 with Xbox One copies of Fallout 4. Hopefully this becomes a trend of sorts — it’d make a nice change from having to buy all those “definitive” editions, wouldn’t it?
Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Engadget Live Blog
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