Google will use your health data to help make Fit a better personal coach
Why it matters to you
Are you looking for a personal assistant? With future versions of Google Fit you may not need to pay for one.
Most major tech companies are stepping into fitness and health tracking and Google is no exception. The company launched Google Fit in 2014 and subsequently revamped it alongside Android Wear 2.0. As is the case with any fitness tracking program, Google Fit is most helpful when it has access to as much of your personal data as possible and Google intends to continue to use that to improve the Google Fit app.
The news comes from Mary Liz McCurdy, who is the head of Health and Fitness Apps for Google Play and she says that health-tracking applications are set to become a lot more useful by using as much information as possible. For example, your fitness app could recommend how to eat better, what kind of exercises to do, and so on.
More: Your fitness goals from Google Fit and Apple Health now show up in Google Calendar
“People are willing to pay and they’re willing to spend a lot of time working out, so these [apps] are all just different pocket-sized personal trainers that continue to improve and get more adaptive and smart with time,” McCurdy said in an interview at South by Southwest. “This is augmenting your experience if you actually have a condition. That doesn’t mean that you do not need to go to the doctor, it just means you’re an informed citizen. You’re in control of your health.”
It’s likely we will continue to see updates to Google Fit as time goes on and Google showed its focus on the service in the last few months.
Of course, there are some issues with this kind of tracking. Some are concerned about handing over health and fitness data to companies like Google or Apple, as that information could eventually be used for advertising. That doesn’t mean that it will be — just that it could.
You’ll soon be able to stream PlayStation 4 games with PlayStation Now
The PlayStation Now catalog will be expanded with PS4 titles sometime in 2017.
PlayStation Now is a great way to play hundreds of PS3 games by streaming them right to your PS4 or your PC. Today Sony says that soon the catalog will be extended to include PlayStation 4 titles.
We’re excited to announce that PS Now’s catalog is set to grow even further, as we’ll be expanding to include a new platform: PlayStation 4 games. All of the games in the service, including PS4 games, will be included with a single PS Now subscription. We’ll share more information as we get closer to launch, so stay tuned.
There’s no date attached saying when this is going to start, but Sony says that private testing will begin in the next few weeks. If you’re a PS Now subscriber, keep and eye on your email to see if you are selected as part of the test group.
If you haven’t tried PlayStation Now you can hit Sony up for a free seven-day trial and check it out.
On-Screen fingerprint sensing won’t be coming to the Galaxy S8
Development of on-screen sensing wasn’t complete in time for this year’s launch according, to industry experts in Korea.
The Korea Herald tells us that Samsung won’t be able to include fingerprint sensing through the display on the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 plus. According to their industry partners, Samsung and Synaptics simply ran out of time. This comes as no surprise, since we’ve seen numerous photos of the phones that clearly show a sensor on the back.
A larger screen that covers almost the entire front body is a key feature for the S8. Since last year, Samsung had made all-out efforts to embed a fingerprint sensor under the display to allow users to unlock the phone by placing their finger on the screen, not the physical home button on the bottom.
But the efforts went down the drain after California-based Synaptics failed to develop the technology on time. As the result, the home button is widely expected to be relocated to the back next to the rear-facing camera lens.
They go on to remark that some users are complaining about moving the fingerprint sensor to the back, saying they need to pick up the phone too often and end up smudging the camera lens. It’s also suggested that the same insiders predict Apple will have on-screen fingerprint sensing as well as 3D facial recognition camera with the iPhone 8 expected later this year.
There’s some good news tacked on here as well: the new advanced facial recognition system is said to be able to unlock the phone in 0.01 seconds and the iris scanner has been improved to offer better security. We’ll know more come March 29 when the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 plus will be shown to the world at Samsung Unpacked in New York.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus
- Latest Galaxy S8 rumors!
- Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
- Galaxy S8 release date set for April 28
- Join our Galaxy S8 forums
New Samsung Galaxy S8 leaks show phone’s interface, gold paint job
Let’s face it: In 2017, there’s no such thing as a surprise phone announcement.
Thanks to teases and leaks and rumours and analysts and pundits, we know everything there is to know about a phone well before it is officially unveiled on a stage in front of hundreds of journalists and television crews. And the upcoming Galaxy S8 from Samsung is no exception. SamMobile has posted several leaked screenshots of the smartphone’s launcher and updated app icons.
The leaked screenshots, which were discovered inside the APK of the latest version of Samsung’s Smart Switch application, provide a better look at what we can expect from the user interface of Samsung’s next flagship. The smartphone will undoubtedly run Android 7.0 Nougat, and from what we can tell in the screenshots, will sport a clean and simple UI with the Samsung Experience skin.
- When is Galaxy Unpacked 2017 and can you watch it online?
But that’s not all: Another leak from Monday shows the Galaxy S8 in gold. PocketNow said unverified Chinese tipsters provided live photos of the “regular” Galaxy S8 and plus-sized Galaxy S8 Plus, and although you can’t see the rear of either device, it’s obvious from the photos that they’re sporting gold paint jobs. We can also see their curved front panels, top sensors, and on-screen buttons.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to debut on March 29. Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up of rumours for more.
This Google test helps change the look and feel of your Android phone
Once you decide to buy a specific smartphone, the hardest part is deciding how to set it up.
When it comes to Android phones, there are so many launchers, icon packs, and wallpapers to choose from. We at Pocket-lint play with new Androids on a sometimes weekly basis, and so setting up these phones to suit our preferences is a regular, tedious task, one which takes up a lot of time. In an effort to reduce the time it takes us all to customise our Androids, Google has released a test full of quick-fire questions.
- Android O: What’s the story so far?
The test, called #myAndroid Taste Test, is designed to serve up the best wallpaper, launcher, and icon set based on your preferences. You have to answer questions about whether you like squares or circles or are more of a “geometric” or “organic” type of person. There’s even a goofy question that shows hotdogs (or legs) and you have to decide how to answer. And for all these questions, Google urges you to think fast.
We took the test and were served up Zedge Wallpapers, which were described as muted and minimalist, as well as the Delta icon pack, because they’re flat and abstract and modern. Google also told us to download Peek Launcher, due to our skill level and interests, as well as the Gboard for a keyboard, though we’ve seen reports from other users claiming they were told to download Gboard every time.
So, this test may be a clever advert for Google’s own Gboard keyboard. Nevertheless, it’s still a pretty neat way to see what’s on Google Play Store in terms of switching up the look and feel of your device.
Get ready to discover the home screen for you. The #myAndroid Taste Test is here: https://t.co/bYl8Y2PgvJ pic.twitter.com/aj6uCZkCfa
— Android (@Android) March 11, 2017
This iPhone case is basically an Android phone
iPhones have a reputation for being user friendly, but ultimately, Android can do a lot of things iOS can’t. Aspects of Android could be useful to all phone users, but straying from the Apple ecosystem can be intimidating. Now, there’s a new way for iPhone users to easily access Android features like expandable storage and multiple SIM cards. Entrepreneur Joseph Savion and his company ESTI Inc. decided to (almost literally) strap an Android phone to the back of an iPhone. That sounds like a strange idea, but that’s basically what ESTI’s Eye phone case does.
The case, which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, adds a 5-inch AMOLED display, a 2.3GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, a 2800mAh battery, up to 256GB of microSD storage, dual SIM slots, a headphone jack and wireless charging, among other features. There are two versions of the case: one with cellular connectivity and one without. A comment from Savion on the Kickstarter page says that the Android device can make use of the iPhone’s internet connection. While there is some other integration between the devices — they share the iPhone’s speaker, microphone and cameras — they pretty much function as their own machines.
The case runs Android 7.1 Nougat, and if Eye is starting to sound more like a standalone phone than an iPhone case, well, it’s priced like one too. It’s expected to retail for $189 (or $229 for the 4G version), although early Kickstarter backers can get theirs for $95 ($129 for 4G). That said, $95 for a phone is pretty cheap.
The main question is, who this product is even for? Most iPhone users seem happy with their devices, and probably don’t need a product like this to “improve” it. Even for users wanting to test the Android waters, there are plenty of non-Apple devices available for under $100 that could satisfy their curiosity without adding bulk to their current phone.
Ultimately, Eye seems a lot more interesting than it does practical. As of this writing, the case has raised over $84,000 of its $95,000 goal with 32 days to go. So, it might not be necessary, but it will probably come to market anyway.
Via: The Verge, 9to5Google
Source: Kickstarter
Bloody sci-fi shooter ‘Strafe’ lands on PS4 and PC in May
Strafe is a lovely little homage to classic games like Doom or Quake — it’s built to feel like a first-person shooter from 1996 but features modern mechanics, updated graphics and buckets of blood. We got our hands on the game during E3 2016 and had a blast shooting space monsters in the face. Everyone will have a chance to do the same on May 9th, when Strafe lands on PlayStation 4, PC and Mac.
This is actually a delay from Strafe’s original release date of March 28th. The studio building Strafe, Pixel Titans, says the game just needs a little more time in the (pixelated, alien-packed, bloody) oven.
“We are incredibly close to being done with the game!” Pixel Titans writes in a Kickstarter update. “We’re cramming the last few secrets in, working on gun polish and game balance, but that doesn’t leave us with enough time for the level of polish and optimization we want so we are delaying the game for just over a month to May 9th. …We will have post-release support but Strafe is not an early access game so we want to make sure it plays great out of the gate.”
STRAFE® will be in the oven a little longer so that the middle isn’t soggy. We will release May 9th on PC, MAC & PS4. pic.twitter.com/LSbhLvFRCE
— STRAFE® (@STRAFEgame) March 13, 2017
Strafe is a rapid-fire, single-player, first-person shooter built with roguelike mechanics, meaning once you die, you start all the way at the beginning. However, procedural generation makes the game different every time you load it up. It’s a streamlined kind of FPS, with ammo drops and weapon-upgrade machines strategically positioned throughout the levels. Plus, whenever you kill a space beast, its blood and guts remain on the ground — or floors, or ceiling — so you always know whether you’ve cleared a room. So thoughtful.
Pixel Titans raised $207,847 on Kickstarter in 2015 to develop Strafe, meaning there are at least 4,953 people patiently waiting for the game to come out. We’re pretty excited about it, too — so make that 4,954.
SolSol’s baseball hat can charge your phone using solar power
Solar technology is still far from becoming ordinary, but we’re seeing more and more of it make its way to consumer products. And now that includes hats. SolSol, a startup from Los Angeles, made a baseball cap that has a small solar panel built into its brim. You can use it to charge your smartphone, tablet or any other device that needs to be plugged in via USB. It looks kind of odd to have a cable hanging down from your head, but the hat could come in handy if your gadget’s battery is running low and there are no other outlets nearby.
I tried it on at SXSW and it felt like any other baseball cap I own, although the brim did feel a bit on the heavy side due to the embedded solar panels. SolSol says it’s tech, which is patented, can charge a device at about 200mAh per hour. The company is already working on improving that rate, along with making more types of hats, including those dad caps everyone in Hollywood loves so much. SolSol’s baseball cap is up for grabs now for $56, in case you’re interested in rocking one the next time you hit the streets.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.
V-MODA Forza Review: the best $100 sport in-ear headphones
Although wireless earphones are becoming the norm for runners, bikers, and gym-goers, there is still something to be said about wired workout earphones. While wireless ones keep you from having to deal with a cord while you’re working out, wired earphones provide better sound and never require charging so you won’t get to the gym and find yourself without music.
Unfortunately, many wired earphones are fairly bulky and heavy when compared to their wireless counterparts, which can get tiresome during long workouts. Thankfully, it appears V-MODA is coming to the rescue with a pair of extremely light, wired earphones that don’t compromise on sound quality – the Forza.
Design
When I first opened the box, I was amazed at just how small the Forza actually is. The earbuds themselves are smaller than most in-ear headphones I have used, and the entire look of the Forza is streamlined. The cable has a rubber coating to increase durability and help protect it from damage. Along the cable leading to the right earbud, you will find the in-line controls and mic. V-MODA touts that these controls are made for Android devices, which I was excited about since I had used so many earphones with in-line controls that didn’t work with my phone.
Unfortunately, the controls on the Forza do not work with every Android device, and my Alcatel IDOL 4S is one of them. The center play/pause button worked flawlessly along with the volume up button, but for some reason, the volume down button did not work at all. All the controls worked with my Nexus 6 so your experience will vary depending on the phone you have.
Taking a look at the earbuds themselves, I was impressed at their small size. The body of the earbuds is fully plastic to keep weight down, and I was glad to see that they still felt durable even with the plastic body. The Forza is water and sweat resistance and has military-level durability (according to V-MODA), so these earphones should last through even the most vigorous workout sessions.
The lightweight and compact design of the Forza helps most when it comes to the fit, and I found that the Forza fit securely in my ears without the need for fins or earhooks. For those of you who want even more of a tight fit, V-MODA includes three sizes of fins along with a set of earhooks that attach to the Forza and keep it frozen in place. The fins attach securely to the earbuds, and the fit is so seamless I would be surprised if anyone could tell the fins were not part of the Forza itself.
Sound
I have always been a fan of V-MODA and the sound that their products deliver, but I must admit that I was skeptical of the Forza when I first saw it. The tiny size reminded me of the inexpensive earbuds you purchase at a convenience store on a trip when you forgot to pack yours. To my delight, my first impressions were entirely wrong. The Forza comes with a 5.8mm driver that is designed to be lightweight but still provide excellent sound. I can confirm that the Forza delivers on both those fronts.
The sound from the Forza is well balanced with strong bass, clean mids, and clear highs. I was impressed with the amount of bass these little earphones could produce. The small size of the earbuds helps you get a better fit that in turn increases both noise isolation and sound quality.
Unfortunately, the Forza does have some cable noise from it rubbing against your clothes while you run or workout but using the included earhooks helps to minimize it. Even with the slight cable noise, I would still put the Forza at the top of the pack in terms of sound at this price range ($100).
Customization
For those of you who like to add a personal touch to your stuff, you have some customization options for the Forza through the V-MODA website that most other earphones do not have. Starting with the less exciting stuff, you can choose from three color options: Black, Orange, and White. However, you can go much further than this.
The Forza comes with the option to add custom 3D-printed caps that attach to the end of the earbuds. You have three designs to choose from: a steampunk design, the V-MODA logo, or a lion head. If you want to leave it there, you can have any of these printed in black acrylic for $20 bringing your full price to $120.
But I say if you are going to go this route, you must go all the way. And by “all the way,” I mean getting these caps made with a precious metal. Oh, yes. I’m serious. If you want to go the easy way, you can simply get them made of out bronze for a total price of $250. Or, you can work up the price ladder through gold plated, sterling silver, and 14K rose gold caps all the way to the top – full platinum caps costing a whopping $7500 dollars. Is this absolutely ridiculous? Yes. Is it also kinda awesome? Yes.
Conclusion
If you could not tell from the review, I think the Forza is an awesome set of earphones and the best workout headphones you can get at this price. The design is sleek and compact, the sound is full and clear, and the customization options are incredible. While these may be hard to recommend if you are thinking about going the platinum route, for those just wanting the earphones themselves, you would be hard pressed finding a better pair of wired workout headphones for $100. You can customize a pair for yourself at the V-MODA website or grab one from Amazon!
Senate bill would require a warrant for border phone searches
Did US border agents insist on searching the contents of your smartphone during your latest trip, privacy be damned? You’re not alone — Homeland Security has revealed that searches by Customs and Border Protection are surging, growing from under 5,000 in all of 2015 to 5,000 just this February. However, there might soon be legislation that keeps these searches in check. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is preparing a bill that would not only require a warrant before border officials can search the devices of US citizens, but strictly forbid them from asking for passwords. They’d need a legitimate reason to believe your phone holds something shady, not just a hunch.
Right now, these searches are completely legal. While the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment normally protects you against warrantless searches of your devices, that doesn’t count for border crossings within 100 miles — officials can even keep devices for 5 days without offering an explanation. In that regard, Wyden’s bill would close a gap in civil rights for at least some of the population. CBP’s own policy hasn’t been updated since 2009, at a time when smartphones were only just becoming popular and data privacy wasn’t as paramount an issue as it is today.
There’s no guarantee that the bill will become law. Senior intelligence officials speaking to NBC News understand that the massive increase in phone searches was prompted by “domestic incidents” where neither the FBI nor watch lists were enough to stop American citizens from conducting attacks. And yes, the new White House’s immigration policy is believed to be contributing to the spike — officials feel like they have more justification for their searches. The bill’s backers will have to convince Congress that warrant requirements can protect your privacy without undermining security.
Source: NBC News
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