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25
Jul

New study identifies “clear connection” between cancer and wireless devices






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We live in a world dominated by wireless devices – we’ve always suspected that there is a risk associated with this many devices around, radiofrequencies flying around and such, but yet another study has emerged that says there is a “clear connection” between wireless devices and cancer. The result of radiation from wireless devices can cause “metabolic imbalance” – also referred to as “oxidative stress” – which can lead to various diseases and cancer. Long term oxidative stress can even cause things we wouldn’t think twice about, or necessarily attribute to wireless device use – headaches, fatigue and skin irritation. This isn’t just high levels of radiofrequency radiation either – the study examined radiation levels that are far below the level deemed to be safe by regulatory bodies.

The findings in the study are definitely food for thought as our world only becomes increasingly wireless. And if you’re thinking that this is just one study, the authors of the study actually examined 100 other peer-reviewed studies, 93 of which suggested the same result. The study concludes:

“We suggest minimizing the intensity and time of RFR exposures, and taking a precautionary approach towards wireless technologies in everyday human life.”


Which is perhaps stating the obvious, but it’s not something many of us would instinctively do given how much we use our wireless devices, smartphones and tablets, everyday. It definitely makes the idea of unplugging now and then a little more necessary, if not attractive.

What do you think about the findings of this study and the “clear connection” between cancer and wireless devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: informa healthcare

The post New study identifies “clear connection” between cancer and wireless devices appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

25
Jul

Vizio IPO plan shows how its TVs track what you’re watching


While the past few years have been tough for many TV makers (Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, Sony, just to name a few), Vizio has continued to grow its business, and now it’s ready to go public. Vizio has made its name with impressive value-priced TVs that don’t skimp on features (it’s also a leader in the soundbar market, and has made attempts at selling tablets and phones too). According to the filing, Vizio has sold more than 15 million smart TVs, with about 61 percent of them connected as of the end of June. While viewers are benefiting from those connections, streaming over 3 billion hours of content, Vizio says it’s watching them too, with Inscape software embedded in the screens that can track anything you’re playing on it — even if it’s from cable TV, videogame systems and streaming devices.

We’ve never heard of Inscape before, but as explained in the S-1 Vizio filed today, it’s based on ACR (automatic content recognition) software licensed from a third party, and viewers can opt-out of participating in it while maintaining other connected features. That’s actually fairly common in modern TVs, and others like LG and Samsung have already rolled out features based on the tech to do things like integrate with TV shows, or display ads based on what the TV is showing. ACR software recognizes the video being displayed, matches it up and phones home the data. According to Vizio, its Inscape platform can pull some 100 billion anonymized datapoints from 8 million of its connected TVs every day. That kind of data can be used for ratings, and is valuable to both advertisers and content providers.

If all goes according to plan, that will mean more content directed towards Vizio TVs, which it hopes will lead to more sales as customers choose its platform. Vizio says this kind of data can help deliver the kind of personalized experiences people want, but we wonder if most people really understand their TV is phoning home data on any and everything they might be watching, even if it’s not through one of the built-in apps. One way or another, when the gavel drops and VZIO starts trading on the market, if you own a connected Vizio TV, you’ll probably be part of the product lineup too.

The Vizio M-Series 4K TVs

Inscape Data Services

Our Inscape data services have the ability to collect viewing behavior from any content displayed on the screens of our Smart TVs. We currently collect viewing behavior on most content that connects to our Smart TVs via external input. However, we do not currently collect viewing behavior streamed through VIZIO Internet Apps Plus or on Smart TVs located outside the United States….To date, we have entered into data licensing agreements with several analytics service providers and are in discussions with additional potential licensees of our data.

Inscape data services’ ability to collect and measure viewing behavior data from content displayed on our entertainment products positions us at the center of the connected entertainment ecosystem. Our Smart TVs can collect viewing data behavior from all media sources that connect via external input to our Smart TVs (e.g., set top boxes, digital video recorders, streaming media players, blu-ray and DVD players and gaming consoles), which generates a richer data set than can be obtained from any single media source. We can deliver this richer data set to advertisers and media content providers, who in turn can deliver more relevant, personalized content for viewers, enhancing the consumer entertainment experience.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Source: Vizio, S-1

25
Jul

The livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET






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It’s all happening now. Motorola has announced on its Twitter account that the livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET – the event is expected to feature the announcement of the Moto X 3rd gen and Moto G 3rd gen; secretly, we’re hoping the new Moto 360 is announced too. Throughout all its teases of the event, Motorola has been referring to a change in relationship status i.e. the relationship between a phone and a person and Motorola contends that a “better mobile relationship is on its way”.


Also, we might be reading into their graphic a little too much, but the “O” in the “XOX” looks awfully like a “G” instead, which could be a subtle hint that the new Moto G and Moto X are indeed going to be announced at this event.

Are you excited for the July 28th Motorola event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Twitter via TalkAndroid

The post The livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

25
Jul

The livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET






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It’s all happening now. Motorola has announced on its Twitter account that the livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET – the event is expected to feature the announcement of the Moto X 3rd gen and Moto G 3rd gen; secretly, we’re hoping the new Moto 360 is announced too. Throughout all its teases of the event, Motorola has been referring to a change in relationship status i.e. the relationship between a phone and a person and Motorola contends that a “better mobile relationship is on its way”.


Also, we might be reading into their graphic a little too much, but the “O” in the “XOX” looks awfully like a “G” instead, which could be a subtle hint that the new Moto G and Moto X are indeed going to be announced at this event.

Are you excited for the July 28th Motorola event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Twitter via TalkAndroid

The post The livestream for the July 28th Motorola event will go live at 9am ET appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

25
Jul

Google celebrates Chromecast’s second birthday with a free movie rental


chromecast_birthday

On this date two years ago, Chromecast was made available to people around the world. The technology behind it that simply mirrors content from phones, tablets, and computers to your television has been called upon nearly two billion times. Chromecast shows how affordable and simple streaming can be. It could be why the Television Academy opted to give voters their own Chromecast to view nominees for this year’s Emmy Awards. Now, on the dongle’s second birthday, Google is celebrating with a free movie rental from Google Play.

chromecast_second_birthday

Google has seemingly placed a limit on the amount of rentals available to a single account; therefore, redeeming previous offers that are similar to this one may prevent anything here. The offer, though, does work with Android TV devices as well.

This offer must be redeemed by December 31. Happy birthday Chromecast!

Source: Google Chrome (Twitter)

Come comment on this article: Google celebrates Chromecast’s second birthday with a free movie rental

25
Jul

Nintendo redesigned Miiverse because you were using it wrong


You know how everyone completely loses it every time Facebook pushes a redesign live? It’s happening again — except this time it’s happening on Miiverse, Nintendo’s quirky social network. On July 29th Miiverse will be given its first major overhaul: a total redesign that adds new features, changes how game-specific communities work and, weirdly, imposes a daily post limit on all users. Why all the changes? According to Nintendo, the community has been using Miiverse, well, wrong.

“Miiverse is created for gamers to talk about games,” Nintendo spokesperson Erika said on the social network’s announcement forum. “But over time, some people have started using Miiverse for other things, such as long chats that are not strictly game-related.” The redesign was cooked up in an effort to keep Miiverse “game-centered,” and is the reason users will be limited to making 30 posts a day. To the casual user, that seems like more than enough — but the community’s heaviest users have grown accustomed to participating in long RP (roleplay) threads and interactive Miiverse drawing competitions.

These are probably the “long chats” that Nintendo is trying to shut down, but that hasn’t stopped fans of these threads from voicing their objections on Nintendo’s official Miiverse posts. Despite the reaction, Nintendo does seem to be trying to make Miiverse a more organized place: the July 29th redesign will add a private screenshot album (the contents of which can be embedded in other Miiverse posts), a “Play Journal” category for posts made from the in-game Miiverse menu, and separate categories for drawing and discussion posts. Finally, users will no longer be able to post directly to their activity feed, though your existing activity feed will be preserved indefinitely.

It’s a big change, and pretty weird — Nintendo has always been careful about how it allows its users to communicate with each other online, but the “tone policing” of this Miiverse revision feels just a little strange. On the other hand, the social network is sort of a mess, as is. The added categories and sorting options will certainly be a welcome change.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: My Nintendo News

Source: Miiverse (1), (2), (3)

25
Jul

Gogoro starts shipping its Smartscooter in Taiwan


The Gogoro scooter is ready for the streets of Taipei. The company will starts shipping its electric Smartscooter to customers that preordered the bike today. The brainchild of former HTC executives, Gogoro became one of the darlings of CES 2015 with its swappable battery solution for its electric vehicle. Instead of plugging the electric scooter into an outlet at home or at charging stations, riders use the company’s GoStation battery kiosks in their city and swap out the two batteries that reside under the seat. Gogoro has been working with Taipei businesses and the government to implement the battery swapping infrastructure it needs to sell its bike. The scooter sells for $128,000 NT (New Taiwan Dollar) which is about $4,066 US and initially includes two years of free battery swapping. Subscriptions will start at $299 NT ($9.50 US) and go up to $899 NT ($28.50 US). Launching in scooter-centric Taipei is a bit of a no brainer. And while the company hasn’t shared any future launch plans, we should expect more cities in Asia to get the bike with motorcycle and scooter-friendly North American cities like San Francisco somewhere on the horizon.

Filed under: Misc, Transportation

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Source: Gogoro

25
Jul

Bethesda Studios announces Fallout Shelter for Android will be out August 13th






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Many Android gamers were bitterly disappointed when Bethesda Studios’ mobile game, Fallout Shelter, was only released for iOS on the day that Fallout 4 was announced at E3 2015. The game went on to top the charts on the Apple App Store, which only made us more disappointed that the game hadn’t launched on Android. Our only consolation is that Bethesda Studios had previously said that an Android version of the game is coming, and today, we’ve gotten a solid release date for Fallout Shelter for Android: August 13th.


For those who haven’t heard about Fallout Shelter till now, the game is set in the Fallout world, a world that has been devastated by nuclear warfare. Luckily, nuclear bunkers, or vaults, were created to shield humans in the event this occurred, allowing communities of people to survive underground while they waited for it to become safe above ground. That’s where Fallout Shelter comes in, letting you take control of a vault community to manage it and keep it running. And from the rave reviews that have come from the iOS side of the fence, we’re pretty sure that it’s going to be a hit on Android too.

Are you going to get Fallout Shelter on Android? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Twitter via engadget

The post Bethesda Studios announces Fallout Shelter for Android will be out August 13th appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

25
Jul

FCC officially grants approval of AT&T-DirecTV merger


AT&T Logo Shutterstock

Today the FCC has approved AT&T’s $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV, which was first announced in May of 2014. This newly-combined company will have roughly 26 million subscribers in all, making it the largest pay-TV company in the United States.

The FCC only agreed to the merger as long as AT&T agreed to a few conditions, which are all laid out in the PDF file attached below. AT&T-DirecTV must continue to roll out its high-speed, fiber optic Internet service to more customers, as well as provide discounted broadband services to low-income consumers. The new firm is also prohibited from discriminating against other online video services.

Part of the FCC’s goal with this merger isn’t to harm consumers in any way, but to make high-speed Internet access more widely available across the United States. When the deal was first proposed in May, AT&T promised it would bring broadband Internet access to 15 million rural households, which is likely the main reason for the FCC approving this deal.

AT&T is currently the United States’ second largest mobile service provider, and DirecTV is the nation’s largest satellite video provider. This of course makes for a threatening combination in the Internet space, though consumers might benefit greatly from the new merger. We might see some great mobile video offerings from AT&T in the future, and DirecTV might soon offer consumers lower priced TV bundles.

If you’d like more information on this approval, I’d recommend taking a look at the FCC PDF attached at the source link below.

25
Jul

Get a free movie rental from Google to celebrate Chromecast’s second birthday


Chromecast 2nd Bday (1)

Want to escape the heat this weekend? If you’re looking for something to do indoors, Google has a small offer that may be worth your while. To celebrate the Chromecast’s 2nd birthday, Google is giving out one free movie rental to all owners of the media streaming device from now until December 31st, 2015.

To redeem your free movie rental, first you’ll need to make sure your Chromecast is set up and connected to your Wi-Fi network. Then, open up your Chrome browser on your computer, head over to this link, then click on the offer you’d like to redeem. Once you select your streaming device from the list, you can then head to the Google Play Store to claim your free rental.

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It should be noted that Google does have some restrictions in place for the number of free movie rentals you claim on your Google account. So, depending on how many offers you’ve already claimed, you might not be able to take advantage of this deal.

Don’t have a Chromecast? Right now, you can buy two Chromecasts from the Google Store and save $15 at checkout. This isn’t the cheapest we’ve ever seen the media streamer, but it’s a pretty nice deal, nonetheless.