Necklace helps your diet by listening to your eating

Forget using image recognition or the honor system to count calories — if University at Buffalo researchers have their way, you’ll just need to wear a necklace to watch what you eat. Their recently developed AutoDietary device gauges caloric intake by listening to the chewing and swallowing sounds you make when consuming different foods. It’s easy to tell when you’re munching on an apple versus a cookie, for example. The current system sends data to a smartphone and recommends improvements, such as cutting back on snacks or slowing down if you tend to rush through dinner.

It’s not foolproof. The existing implementation only detects the right food 85 percent of the time, and it can’t tell whether you’re eating a healthy or junky version of a given foodstuff (a common problem with cereal). However, the creators believe they could solve this by adding a biomonitor that looks for blood sugar levels and other telltale signs of specific meals. If the technology advances far enough, you could reliably use it to tackle diabetes, obesity and other conditions where each bite could be a big deal.

Via: EurekAlert

Source: University at Buffalo

Watch the 2016 IGF and GDC Awards live right here!

Now that the GDC show floor is officially open to attendees, it’s time for the routine trophy ceremonies. It all starts with the Independent Games Festival Awards at 6:30PM PT/9:30PM ET tonight, followed directly by the Game Developers Choice Awards. And because we care deeply about you, our readers, we’re embedding a livestream of the back-to-back events in this post. We’ll also be talking to the 2016 winners as they come off the stage — more on that soon.

Source: Twitch (GDC)

Razer’s ‘Core’ external GPU ships in April for $500

Razer announced pricing and availability for its new Core external graphics box at GDC on Wednesday. The device is available for pre-order starting today and units will begin shipping in April. It will set you back $400 if purchased in tandem with a Blade Stealth or $500 if you buy it separately. But don’t worry if you didn’t take our advice and have already purchased a Blade Stealth, you’ll still get the $100 discount.

The Core operates through a single Firebolt 3 (USB-C) plug to deliver both power and data (up to 40 Gbps) to the connected ultrabook. Plus, It supports double-wide, full-length, PCI-Express x16 card from AMD or NVIDIA — that’s four times the data bandwidth of what its rival, the Alienware Amplifier, offers. What’s more, the Core will include four USB 3.0 ports and wired Ethernet connectivity. Note, you will need to buy a graphics card separately to stick into the Core. The following models will be compatible at launch:

Qualified AMD Radeon graphics cards:
– R9 Fury
– R9 Nano
– R9 300 Series
– R9 290X
– R9 290
– R9 280

Compatible NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards:
– GTX Titan X
– GTX 980 Ti
– GTX 980
– GTX 970
– GTX 960
– GTX 950
– GTX 750 Ti
– GTX 750

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

German Court Rules Apple Violated OpenTV Streaming Digital Video Patents

A German court today ruled Apple has violated several streaming digital video patents belonging to software maker OpenTV, reports Reuters. OpenTV first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2014 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and followed that up with a U.S. lawsuit in May of 2015.

OpenTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kudelski Group, says Apple services like iTunes and Apple devices like iPhones and iPads infringe on its patents related to the secure delivery of media content to consumer devices.

Apple has been ordered to cease selling products that use software infringing on the OpenTV patents in Germany.

OpenTV sued Apple in 2014, alleging that various products infringe its patents, including the iPhone and iPad. The ruling on Tuesday from the Dusseldorf District Court said Apple products sold in Germany must not use streaming software which infringes OpenTV’s patents. […]

“The claim is predominantly valid and well-founded,” the Dusseldorf court said in its ruling on Tuesday.

Founded in 1994, OpenTV was one of the first providers of software, advertising products, and operating systems used on millions of television set-top boxes. Its current flagship product is OpenTV, a broadcast and digital television platform that runs on set-top boxes around the world.

Apple could not be reached for comment and it is not clear if an appeal will be filed. Apple’s civil suit in the United States has not yet been resolved.
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T-Mobile Giving Customers a Free Subscription to MLB.TV Premium

T-Mobile today announced that it is once again partnering with Major League Baseball, this time to give all T-Mobile customers a free one-year subscription to the MLB.TV Premium service. This is the third year in a row T-Mobile has partnered up with Major League Baseball, and this year’s giveaway is in celebration of three more years of partnership.

“For the last three years MLB has been with us every step of the way as we have re-written the rules of wireless. This year we’re doubling down – and expanding the relationship even further to include the Home Run Derbies and free MLB.TV for customers,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “This isn’t just some corporate sponsorship. It’s the combined effort of two passionate teams bringing even more amazing perks and game-changing moves to baseball fans over the next three years!”

T-Mobile Simple Choice customers on qualifying plans are able to sign up for a full MLB.TV Premium subscription valued at $109.99 starting on April 3. To get the discount, customers will need to subscribe using the T-Mobile network.

The service will allow T-Mobile subscribers to watch 2,430 out-of-market regular season games live on their T-Mobile devices. It will take advantage of T-Mobile’s BingeOn feature, so streaming MLB content on a device connected to the T-Mobile network will not count against data caps. MLB.TV Premium is available on Macs, iOS devices, the Apple TV, and a number of other consoles and set-top boxes.

Also included is a free premium subscription to MLB.com At Bat, something T-Mobile has given away in past years.

(Thanks, Asa!)

Tag: T-Mobile
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BOT Home Automation Ring Video Doorbell Pro Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Smaller than the original, with swappable faceplates.

BOT Home Automation

Up from the 720p camera in the original $200 Ring, the new Ring Video Doorbell Pro from BOT Home Automation goes on sale today and boasts a 1080p high-definition video feed, along with a sleeker look, swappable face plates, and customizable motion detection zones. It’s a compelling list of new features. The trade-off — it costs $50 more and is hard-wired only. The original Ring could be hard-wired or powered with rechargeable batteries.

The original Ring is available in 83 countries, including in Australia for AU$244 and in the UK for £127, plus additional shipping charges. I’d expect the new one will be available overseas, too. The $250 price converts to approximately £180 and AU$335.

Other smart doorbells

• August Doorbell Cam
• DoorBird
• Skybell 2.0

Hopefully, the extra specs add up to clearer video in practice. That wasn’t always the case with the 720p Ring. It should have been an obvious step up in video quality over the 640×480 picture of the competitive $200 Skybell 2.0, but over the course of testing both, we preferred Skybell’s feed as Ring’s lagged and streaked more frequently.

Still, the Ring proved a significant leap forward from its predecessor — BOT Home Automation’s disappointing Doorbot, so there’s room for optimism that the Pro will take a similar step. The Ring Pro’s other big new feature is similarly great in theory — you can actually draw your own zones for customized motion detection. With the original Ring, you picked from predefined zones, so it’ll be interesting to see if refining them beyond that makes a tangible difference.

Otherwise, both Rings share a lot of the same qualities:

• Push alerts when motion is detected and/or when the doorbell rings
• Two-way audio so you can talk to whoever is at your door
• An activity log
• Optional cloud storage of recorded clips ($3 per month or $30 per year for 6 months of storage)

The Ring Pro also works with both 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connections, as opposed to the 2.4GHz-only Ring.

The Ring Pro isn’t replacing the original Ring. If you don’t have a hard-wired doorbell, or don’t care to pay $50 for the new look or extra definition in terms of video and motion detection, you’ll still be able to purchase the $200 Ring. You can order the $250 Ring Pro now on the company’s site. The units are scheduled to start shipping in April. At that point, we’ll see if the new features do enough to help the Ring Pro stand out from an increasingly competitive field that includes a model from August and the Bird Home Automation Doorbird.

Nixon Mission Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Nixon

It’s not recommended that you shower with most smartwatches, let alone swim with them, but the Nixon Mission isn’t your average smartwatch.

The Mission is a rugged and durable Android Wear-powered watch with a polycarbonate and 316L stainless-steel body, and a fully round AMOLED display. It’s also one of the first smartwatches to feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Wear 2100 system-on-a-chip, which uses 25 percent less power than previous chips and should deliver improved battery life.

Nixon

The standout feature, though, is the watch’s water resistance. The Mission is the first smartwatch to carry a 10ATM water-resistant rating. That means it can withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 100 meters (about 330 feet). While you still can’t go deep-sea diving with it or jump off a jet ski, the watch should be able to withstand just about everything else, including snorkeling, swimming and even surfing. In fact, Nixon encourages it.

The California-based company built an app for the watch that shows surf and ski conditions at a glance of the wrist. It also partnered with Trace, an action sports company, to help with tracking various activities.

Nixon

Other specs include 4GB of internal storage for music and apps, and 512MB of RAM, both of which are relatively standard for Android Wear watches. The Mission reminds me a lot of the Casio Smart Outdoor Watch that we saw at the CES trade show in January. The two are quite similar, although the Mission has a higher water-resistant rating and includes GPS, in addition to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The Mission can do everything other Android Wear watches can do. You can customize the watch face, download apps and view personalized Google Now cards and notifications for emails, calls, texts and app alerts from your Android or iOS device.

The Nixon Mission will arrive later this year for $400. That price converts to about £280 in the UK and AU$530 in Australia.

Raspberry Pi 3 review

There are several key things that have helped make the Raspberry Pi such a success. They include its feature set (like the GPIO pins), its ease of access, and its price. And it seems that this last point is a core value for the Raspberry Pi foundation. Over the last few years the foundation has either made new boards which are even cheaper (like the Pi Zero) or it has increased the performance and functionality of the boards, while retaining the same price. The Raspberry Pi 3 falls into the latter category, a new board, with better performance and new features, but yet at the same familiar price.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is a natural and progressive upgrade from the Pi 2. Not only does it open the door to 64-bit computing because of its 64-bit Cortex-A53 based processor, but it also adds Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, two key features for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Buy on Amazon

I ordered a Pi 3 on the day it was announced and I have been playing with it ever since it arrived. Is it a worthwhile upgrade? Is now the best time to buy your first Raspberry Pi? Let’s find out.

Read more:

• Raspberry Pi Zero review
• Raspberry Pi 2 review

Specifications

Design

As with all Raspberry Pi boards, what you are buying is just a circuit board. A versatile and fully functional computer circuit board, but just a circuit board nonetheless. Of course there are a multitude of accessories including cases, touchscreens and cases with touchscreens, but for $35 what you get is the board. To use it you will need a microSD card, a keyboard, a mouse, and a TV or monitor with a HDMI port.

In the middle of the board is the black System-on-a-Chip (SoC) from Broadcom with the HDMI port below it and the USB ports, plus the Ethernet port, to the right. Along the top edge are the GPIO pins which are fully compatible with previous Pi boards. On the bottom of the board is the microSD slot which is used to store the OS and your data.

The board is powered via a 5V micro USB port, but unlike previous generations this one needs a bit more juice. It is now recommended that you use a 2.5A adapter if you want to connect power-hungry USB devices to the board.

Hardware

There are three big changes to this new board that mean it earns the title “Pi 3” rather than something like “Pi 2+”. The first is the upgrade to 64-bits. The new board uses a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core Cortex-A53 ARMv8 based CPU from Broadcom. The new SoC, the BCM2837, keeps the same basic architecture as its predecessors, so any projects and tutorials which rely on the precise details of the Raspberry Pi hardware will continue to work.

The BCM2835 found in the Raspberry Pi 1 and the Raspberry Pi Zero contains a single core ARMv6 (i.e. and ARM1176) CPU and a VideoCore IV CPU. The BCM2836 keeps the same GPU core but replaces the ARMv6 CPU with a quad-core ARMv7 Cortex-A7 CPU. The new BCM2837 remains essentially the same as the BCM2836 but replaces the four 32-bit Cortex-A7 cores with four 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores.

The other two big changes are in the wireless department. For the first time the Raspberry Pi now has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Both of these were previously available via USB dongles, however by including them on the board the Raspberry Pi foundation has throw down the gauntlet to all other would-be IoT developer boards. I can only hope that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth become a standard for all future Raspberry Pi boards. Anyone want a Raspberry Pi Zero+ with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, even if it costs $15? Yes please! But I digress.

As for the rest of the hardware, it is basically unchanged from the Pi 2. You get the 40 General Purpose Input and Output (GPIO) ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, a digital camera interface and a display interface (not to be confused with the HDMI port).

Software

The operating system of choice for all Raspberry Pi boards is Linux, specifically the Debian based Raspbian. The Pi 3 will also run Linux based media center distributions like OSMC. You also get access to Windows 10 IoT Core support, if that is the kind of thing you like! Plus don’t forget RISC OS, an OS designed in Cambridge, England by Acorn. RISC OS was first released in 1987 and its origins can be traced back to the original team that developed the ARM microprocessor.

Installing Raspbian is a breeze. You need to download the New Out Of the Box Software (NOOBS) zip archive and extract it onto a blank microSD card. Boot the Pi 3 from the card and follow the on screen instructions. Once complete the board will reboot into the Raspbian desktop environment.

When the desktop appears you will probably want to configure the networking, either Ethernet or Wi-Fi. To do this left-click on the network icon (near the clock at the top-right of the screen) and you will see a list of all available wireless networks. Select the one you want and enter the password. If you right-click the network icon and choose the “Wifi Networks (dhcpcdui) Settings” option from the pop-up menu, you can manually enter a static IP address and/or configure the wired networking.

With all this talk of 64-bit processors you might think that the software running in the Pi is also fully 64-bit… unfortunately not quite. Remember how you can install a 32-bit version of Windows or a 32-bit version of Linux on a 64-bit Intel desktop? Well, it is exactly the same with 64-bit ARM based processors. At the moment Raspbian is the 32-bit version both at the kernel level and for the userland tools (that means the command line tools and installed programs like the browser). In the future the Raspberry Pi foundation will look into releasing a 64-bit distro. If and when that happens it will likely happen in two stages, first a 64-bit kernel and 32-bit userland and then fully 64-bit. My guess is that the first 64-bit Raspberry Pi distros will come from Arch and CentOS and not from Raspbian. However while we wait, the 32-bit versions run perfectly well.

OSMC

As well as Raspbian there are lots of other general Linux distributions that work with the Raspberry Pi3 including Arch Linux, CentOS and many others. One of the specialist distributions is OSMC (the Open Source Media Center). It is based on Debian and boots straight into XBMC/Kodi, turning your Raspberry Pi into a Media Center.

I installed OSMC on my Pi 3 and booted it up. I then attached an external 2TB hard disk with some Full HD videos. I was able to find the files on the hard drive without any problems and I was able to watch the videos easily. My primary test file was a high bit-rate video that come straight out of Premiere Pro. The Pi 3 was able to play it without any lag or stutters.

So if you have a hard drive full of media and you want to access it from your lounge then you could use the Raspberry Pi 3!

Performance

Before we look at the actual performance numbers, lets look at the theoreticals. The Raspberry Pi 3 is clocked at 1.2GHz compared to the 900MHz of the Pi 2, so that is a 33% increase from the start. Plus the Cortex-A53 is a faster CPU core than the Cortex-A7, so theoretically the Pi 3 should be around 50-60% faster than the Raspberry Pi 2, which is roughly a factor of ten times faster than the original Raspberry Pi.

To test the relative speed of all the different Pi boards, I ran the “speed” test of the OpenSSL suite. These tests churn out lots of numbers however the data below should give you a feel for how the different boards compare. The ‘numbers’ are in 1000s of bytes per second processed:

According to these benchmarks the Raspberry Pi 3 is around 35% to 40% faster than the Raspberry Pi 2. It also seems to be around 3 to 4 times faster than the Raspberry Pi Zero (when comparing the single-core results to the multi-core results).

As for real world desktop performance, the Raspberry Pi 3 has certainly nudged the Pi a step closer to being a desktop alternative. Loading a webpage like AndroidAuthority.com is about twice as slow on the Raspberry Pi compared to a modern desktop, while launching a program like LibreOffice Writer is around 3 times slower. However the speeds achieved aren’t painfully slow. Using the Pi 3 as a desktop wouldn’t be optimum, however it is certainly do-able.

However, at the moment the real aim of the Pi 3 isn’t too replace the desktop, it is as a tool for hobbyists and educators. And as such the performance is excellent. Raspbian comes pre-installed with tools like Python 3 IDLE and Wolfram Mathematica, there are suites like LibreOffice, and you can get access to C, C++, Golang and Java. Unlike the Pi 1 and Pi Zero, which really had to be used from the command line – if you wanted to keep your sanity, the Pi 3 is a pleasure to use from the desktop.

Gallery

Final thoughts

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has remained true to the original aims of the Raspberry Pi and it continues to deliver great boards at excellent prices. The Pi 3 is no exception. With a better CPU plus built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Pi 3 is a worthy successor to the Pi 2. If you have a Pi 2 and use it a lot then you should upgrade to the Pi 3. If you haven’t bought a Pi until now then there really hasn’t been a better time to get one.

Buy on Amazon

Now read:

• ODROID C1 review
• Showdown: Raspberry Pi 2 vs ODROID C1 vs HummingBoard vs MIPS Creator CI20

Uber Testing ‘Family Profiles’ With Shared Payment Method in iOS App

Uber today announced the limited launch of a new “Family Profiles” feature for its iOS app, which will allow up to 10 riders to share a single payment method. With Family Profiles, Uber passengers can have their rides paid for by friends or family, allowing parents to pay for rides for children, for example.

While we’ve called this feature Family Profiles, we let you decide who is family. It’s a great way to help loved ones, friends or coworkers get where they want to go while you foot the bill. Whether you’re a parent with kids away at college or a daughter wanting to help your parents maintain their independence, it’s never been easier to share some Uber love around to the people that matter most in your life.

Family Profiles are currently available in Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix and can be enabled in the Settings app of the latest version of the Uber app.

A main Family Profile organizer can invite contacts to accept an invitation to join the Family Profile, which will then allow riders to request rides from their own device using the shared payment method. Family Profile organizers will be billed for the ride and will receive ride receipts.

Uber has not specified when Family Profiles might expand to additional areas, but should the feature prove successful, it will likely be available in more cities across the United States in the coming weeks.

The Uber app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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Individually wrap portions of meat to prevent freezer burn – CNET

Taylor Martin/CNET

If you buy in bulk and store meat in your freezer, chances are you’ve also encountered the dreaded freezer burn at some point.

Freezer burn is caused by sublimation, or when water molecules near the surface of food evaporate without ever entering the liquid phase. In other words, the water goes directly from a solid (ice) to gas (water vapor), leaving the food dehydrated, shriveled and often discolored.

Foods that have succumbed to freezer burn are safe to eat. In fact, this is the same process that is purposefully used to freeze-dry some foods. However, it can negatively affect the taste of many foods, such as meats or vegetables.

Fortunately, there’s a simple trick that can help protect your meats from freezer burn. Here’s how.

Freezing meat without the burn

First things first, you want to remove as much surrounding air from the meat as possible. Most of the time, meat packaged in markets and grocery stores aren’t meant for long-term storage. Instead, they’re packaged to be consumed shortly thereafter.

That means you’ll need to remove the meat from its original packaging. Discard the packaging and trim any unwanted parts of the meat.

Taylor Martin/CNET

The paper you should wrap your meat in is called freezer paper, and it can be found in many supermarkets and grocery stores. Freezer paper is different from wax paper in that it is a matte paper finish on one side (presumably for writing on it with a marker) and has a thin plastic coating on the other side.

If you do not have access to freezer paper, wax paper will work in a pinch. Just know that wax paper is not as resistant to to moisture or water vapor. Freezer paper is generally rated to keep food items for up to a year in the freezer. Wax paper, on the other hand, should only be used to store frozen foods for a few weeks.

Taylor Martin/CNET

Divide the meat into portions and tear off a piece of paper that’s large enough to fully wrap around a single portion of meat twice. Lay the wax paper flat and place the portion of meat in one of the corners. Fold the corner of the paper over the meat and roll the meat over onto the paper. Meanwhile, maintain pressure on the meat to ensure as little air as possible gets into the paper wrap. Next, fold in the left or right corner of the wax paper and roll the meat over. Fold in the second corner and flip once more. Roll the meat over the remaining paper.

Keeping constant pressure on the meat to ensure that no air enters the wrapper, use a piece or freezer or masking tape to hold the wax paper in place. Repeat this process for any meat you will be storing in a freezer.

After all the meat you will be freezing is completely wrapped, write the date on the paper and what’s in the wrap. Place all portions of meat inside a large zip-top bag or vacuum-sealed bag. This help prevent moisture from reaching the meat.

Next time you want to cook some meat for any occasion, remove the large bag of meat and take out the number of portions you need. The meat should be free of freezer burn and ready to be thawed, cooked and eaten.