Samsung’s Smart Bio-Processor for wearables revealed

Samsung has announced the industry’s first Smart Bio-Processor, which will be used within wearable gadgets to track the health of users.

Dubbed ‘the all-in-one health chip’, this new processor aims to tap into a fast-growing market, able to take multiple measurements such as body fat, skin temperature, heart rate, heart rhythm and stress level.

Samsung also announced today that the group’s Bio-Processor is now within mass production, with the company gearing up to offer ‘innovative wearable products’ to fitness fanatics in the near future.

Ben K. Hur, Vice President of marketing, System LSI business at Samsung Electronics, said:

“With improvements in smart fitness devices and an increase in consumer health consciousness, more and more people are looking for ways to monitor various personal bio-data, or fitness data, to constantly manage their health.”

The Samsung spokesman went on to add that the group’s latest chip is capable of processing five different biometric signals, supposedly making it the most versatile health and fitness monitoring chip available on the market today.

Thanks to a host of on-board tech, the chip can process the bio-signals it measures without the need of external parts. In addition, Samsung claims the Bio-Processor is able to work effectively even in ‘extremely small devices’.

Samsung says the Bio-Processor is set to appear inside fitness devices within the first half of 2016.

Source: Samsung

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AT&T’s VoLTE network reaches more customers than any other carrier

The year is coming to an end and that means companies are recapping 2015 to prove their growth and successes. Today, AT&T revealed that its VoLTE network — the one that allows you to make calls over an LTE connection — is accessible to nearly 300 million people in the United States.

Although large, that number comes down to an estimation of 27 million when counting just AT&T customers. So AT&T is declaring that its VoLTE network is an option to more customers than any other carrier in the United States.

AT&T also highlighted offerings that launched in 2015:

• Wi-Fi Calling complements our already great network coverage and is an option for making calls in areas where a cellular signal is tough to get. It’s available on compatible devices with iOS 9 installed. We plan to offer it on other operating systems in the future.
• NumberSync uses the power of our network to link your compatible devices to your primary mobile number. This means you can send and receive texts, as well as make and receive calls, from a secondary device using the same number that your contacts already recognize. This will work when your smartphone isn’t with you, nearby or even on. We launched NumberSync first on the Samsung Gear S2 and plan to bring the feature to other devices in the future.
• Video Call is now available in VoLTE coverage areas if you have a Samsung Galaxy S 6 Active. There’s no need for a separate app. You can also switch between a HD Voice call and Video Call without hanging up.
• Advanced Messaging, like video calling and VoLTE, is part of AT&T’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) platform. Advanced Messaging has some cool features, making your texting even better. If you and the person you are texting both have a Samsung Galaxy S 5 mini or Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, it shows when your message is delivered, when it’s read and when the other person is typing their reply. You can also send larger files up to 10 MB.

Expect to see more developments with this type of technology from AT&T and the other carriers in 2016.

Source: AT&T

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Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Times Square… from anywhere!

Just because you’re not in New York City on Thursday night doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate New Year’s in Times Square. The official app to welcome 2016 has been updated for this year’s celebration.

Here’s the short list of features included:

• Follow and interact with the Times Square Ball on Twitter
• Watch live streaming of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration
• Customize your Countdown Clock with your time zone

Play Store Download Link

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Sidecar shuts down rides and deliveries ahead of new year

It’s tough to be the third choice when someone is looking for a ride home. Sidecar CEO Sunil Paul announced that the ride-hailing and delivery business would shut down at 2pm PT on December 31.

Sidecar was a tough sell with Uber already working its way into the general population’s conscious as the way to get a ride with a stranger. Meanwhile Lyft is seen as the “friendlier” alternative with passengers encouraged to sit up front with the driver. Sidecar just never seemed to catch on like the other two services.

But the company isn’t entirely disappearing. Paul said, “today is a turning point for Sidecar as we prepare to end our ride and delivery service so we can work on strategic alternatives and lay the groundwork for the next big thing.” No word on what those alternatives are or when they’ll be announced.

We’ve reached out to Sidecar about its plans for the future and it said that it’s not commenting beyond what’s in the post from CEO Sunil Paul.

Via: Recode

Source: Sidecar

Spotify is facing a $150 million lawsuit

Music streaming powerhouse Spotify is facing a class action lawsuit from David Lowery that could end up paying the artist rights advocate $150 million. Billboard reports the lawsuit alleges that Spotify “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses.” These licenses are the ones that allow outside parties to utilize copyrighted music.

Spotify’s Jonathan Prince provided the following statement:

“We are committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny. Unfortunately, especially in the United States, the data necessary to confirm the appropriate rightsholders is often missing, wrong, or incomplete. When rightsholders are not immediately clear, we set aside the royalties we owe until we are able to confirm their identities. We are working closely with the National Music Publishers Association to find the best way to correctly pay the royalties we have set aside and we are investing in the resources and technical expertise to build a comprehensive publishing administration system to solve this problem for good.”

Lowery, who belongs to bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, is aiming to receive up to $150,000 for each song that is eligible for willful infringement. Combine that figure with the millions of people using Spotify and the music streaming service might actually end up paying a massive amount of money at the end of it all.

Spotify is said to have around $25 million stored for paying royalties for songs it lacks proper rights to; however, this specific lawsuit clearly goes above and beyond that reserve fund. The two parties could always reach a settlement outside of the courtroom, but that’s unlikely considering Lowery is entering a legal battle with Spotify on behalf of all musicians.

Source: Billboard
Via: The Verge

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