The ShapeScale 3D scanner can color-code your body changes

I am trying to get in shape. I work out regularly and have been eating better. But still, whenever I step on my Fitbit Aria scale, my weight or body fat percentage don’t seem to have budged much. It’s frustrating, even when it seems that certain parts have gotten smaller or more toned. Unless I whip out a caliper and pinch my bits of flab for precise measurements, I don’t really know what’s happening. The ShapeScale, available for pre-order starting today, might solve that conundrum for me. This $499 scale and 3D scanner creates a 360-degree image of a user’s body, forming a colorful visual aid that highlights which bits are getting bigger and smaller.

There’s already a number of 3D body scanners on the market for a variety of uses, including health and fitness tracking. The ShapeScale stands out by not just by being smaller and cheaper, but also in how it operates. While existing scanners have you stand on a platform that rotates in front of a stationary camera, the ShapeScale rotates the camera around you. The idea is that if the object is rotating, the light shifts as it moves, which results in an inconsistent scan. But if the person stays motionless the light doesn’t change, so everything looks the same from the beginning of the scan to the end. The ShapeScale’s camera is implanted on an arm that you extend out from the platform, making three passes around the user, angling the camera further upward on each go-around to capture a person from head to toe.

If the device sounds like it’s filled with fiddly bits that could be easily broken, you’re not entirely wrong. However, it’s designed in such a way to protect the most vulnerable components. The whole rig can be be folded up compactly, with the motorized parts all stored in the base for easy and secure transport. It’s not heavy at all; you can carry it with one hand and easily swing it onto a shelf or under a bed for storage. Maybe even an overhead bin, if it’s important that you measure your body fat on a trip.

The ShapeScale takes all the information it’s gathered to build out a 3D representation of you. It’s not a gray blob or blank mannequin, but it’s you, stupid expression and all. You should be wearing tight clothes (think: gym wear) when you do the scan, so it doesn’t accidentally read a baggy shirt as extra paunch. But even wearing a pair of tight jeans and a long-sleeved Heattech shirt the ShapeScale was able to make a pretty accurate model of me from the grayish-brown roots on my head to the bit of pudge around my waist. The ShapeScale also seems to think I’m a little cross-eyed. It’s not the most flattering picture of me.

The level of detail for a home device is certainly cool — but with only one scan, I don’t have a heatmap of where I’m gaining or losing weight yet. It’s something you have to do on a daily basis, especially if you want to correlate your fat gain/loss to certain behaviors. To that end the app can store other metrics, but the ShapeScale data is meant to be exportable to other fitness tracking programs you might already be using, like MyFitnessPal.

I’m not sure if I’m ready for the level of commitment the ShapeScale requires. It’s asking me to open it up, put on my tightest clothes (or be naked, I guess) and wait for it to do its thing every morning. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but I also forget to weigh myself on my Aria sometimes, and that’s literally sitting right next to my bed ready to go. Then again, serious weight loss requires serious commitment. It requires getting more exercise, watching what you eat and maybe even having a 3D scanner take pictures of your gut every day. The ability to immediately see how your hard work is paying off is definitely a great carrot on a stick, and eventually you won’t need the app to show you: You can check for yourself in the mirror.

Pre-orders for the ShapeScale start today at $499, with orders expected to ship out some time in 2018.

UK watchdog accidentally creates pager monopoly it was hoping to avoid

True story: Vodafone still runs a pager service, decades after the old-school equivalent of pop-up notifications fell out of fashion. And it’s not even the only the company supporting this ancient tech, which is still used by a few businesses, doctors, emergency services and bird watchers, apparently. Capita also maintains a pager service and agreed to buy Vodafone’s division and its roughly 1,000 customers in February. However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it has decided to investigate the merger, leading Vodafone to immediately abandon the sale and close down this part of its business altogether.

The CMA’s concerns are pretty straightforward: The acquisition would leave the UK with one lone provider of pager services. This could lead to higher prices and a reduced quality of service. Standard CMA stuff, and the main reasons the merger of O2 and Three was blocked last year. But Vodafone isn’t interested in cooperating with the CMA on a more thorough probe.

“Due to the expense involved with a prolonged investigation, Vodafone will not pursue the transaction and has made the decision to close down this business,” the company told the Financial Times. The carrier also said it’s surprised at the decision, considering no other country in Europe has more than one paging network.

Ironically, with Vodafone deciding to close the division completely, the CMA’s fears of a monopoly player have actually come to fruition. Merger or not, Capita will soon be the UK’s only provider of pager services.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Competition and Markets Authority (1), (2)

Uber faces lawsuit for failing on disabled accessibility

Uber has yet another problem to deal with: it’s been slapped with a lawsuit for not making its services more available to people with disabilities. A couple of wheelchair users from Jackson, Mississippi have filed the lawsuit, accusing Uber of violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the California Disabled Persons Act and California’s unfair competition law. According to TechCrunch, the lawsuit states that “persons with disabilities in Jackson have no ability to call a wheelchair accessible vehicle or a specially trained driver through the Uber app” even if some of the company’s drivers are capable of accommodating them.

In 2014, the ride-hailing company launched a program called UberAssist that gives riders way to call for drivers trained in accessibility. Some of them even have vehicles that can accommodate folding wheelchairs if needed. Unfortunately, it’s still only available in a handful (New York, Houston, Chicago, London, Portland) of markets.

A disability rights group in Chicago filed a federal lawsuit against the company in 2016 for failing to provide vehicles that can fit wheelchairs. Even UberAccess was created as a response to several lawsuits over the lack of support for people with disabilities. We’re guessing the company will have to face even more until UberAccess becomes available everywhere. However, there are no guarantees that will ever happen, seeing as the program hasn’t expanded that much since it launched.

Source: TechCrunch

‘Spotify Codes’ Introduce Easy Song and Playlist Sharing Through Scannable Artwork

Spotify this week has launched a new discovery tool called “Spotify Codes,” which gives users a way to easily share and find new music within the Spotify app on iOS and Android. The feature works by generating a unique code that users can take a picture of, guiding them directly to the piece of content that the code represents.

Users can generate a Spotify Code for any song, artist, album, or playlist available on Spotify by tapping the ellipses context menu, which will attach a Spotify Code to the bottom of the artwork in question. The Spotify Code can be saved to the Camera Roll to share on social media, or users can show the code to their friends nearby.

Scanning a Spotify Code is similar to any QR reader app, requiring users to take a picture of the code they want to scan, which will then direct them to the track, singer, album, or playlist that the code represents. Spotify has added in a quick-access camera button for this reason in the new update, located to the right of the search bar.

The music streaming company said that Spotify Codes won’t just be for easy playlist sharing among friends, but could open up a new way for brands to promote and engage with Spotify users through commercials, print ads, and billboards.

Scan a code on your friend’s phone to follow his or her party playlist, share your Spotify profile on your social channels, or take a screenshot and import a code posted by your favourite artist to hear their latest single. You can also scan a Spotify Code printed on a flyer, poster or even a billboard.

But Spotify Codes are not just great for sharing new music with friends and loved ones, they also present an innovative and exciting new way for artists, labels and brands to instantly engage with fans through Spotify. We’re excited to see the creative ways in which they are used.

Last month, rumors suggested that Spotify is in development on its first-ever hardware device that could result in a “category defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles.” The Apple Music rival has been long absent from the Apple Watch, but a new partnership with app developer Andrew Chang will see an official Spotify app make its way to Apple’s wearable device sometime in the future.

For Spotify Codes, the company said that the new feature is currently rolling out globally to all users on both the Spotify iOS app [Direct Link] and on Android.

Tag: Spotify
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Visual Design Student Reimagines Apple Music With Unified Artwork, Better Discovery, and More

When Apple Music launched in 2015, one of the biggest complaints from users and critics centered on the somewhat confusing user interface of Apple’s first foray into music streaming. Although the app was redesigned last year in iOS 10, concerns were then raised around the oversized nature of Apple Music’s new typography and artwork.

This week visual design student Jason Yuan, who studies at Northwestern University, has shared a new project that he’s been working on the past few months, which was sparked when Apple rejected him for a graphic design internship at Apple Music. Yuan decided to take Apple’s rejection, which referenced wanting to see “more growth and training,” and turn it into a new passion project focused on a visual overhaul of Apple Music (via The Next Web).

He said his redesign provides a few “potential solutions” to the service’s problems.

At first, I was frustrated — Northwestern University doesn’t offer any sort of undergraduate graphic design program, so whatever growth they were looking for would have to be self taught … but as soon as I came to this realization, I became inspired to embark on what became a a three-month long journey to the holy grail — the iOS app that Apple Music deserves.

For me, this was an opportunity to really dig my teeth into UX research and design, an excuse to spend way too much time on Sketch and Principle, a reason to bore everyone around me with my notebook of crudely drawn wireframes … My process was guided by qualitative user research, Apple’s official Design Principles, and my own designer intuition.

One of Yuan’s first ideas is called “The Sampler,” which he pitches as a replacement to “My New Music Mix.” The Sampler would be for users “reluctant to sit through an entire playlist full of new music,” and would present Apple Music subscribers with samples of songs in a Tinder-like UI that they could swipe up to reject or swipe down to add to their library. These samples would last around 15 seconds and present highlights from the songs in question so users would immediately know if they like the music or not.

Any music that is swiped down upon is then saved to Yuan’s equivalent of the My New Music Mix, taking out the automatic curation of content currently in place and making it more personalized in Yuan’s design. Yuan said that The Sampler was inspired by the idea of gamification, which he argued would allow the user to create “an immediate connection to the music they discover,” instead of just taking a shot at what Apple Music serves up to them now.

The visual designer also came up with more cohesive branding in Apple Music’s album and playlist artwork, which he argued is currently “kind of all over the place,” with a mix of collages, 3D typography, and more for various radio stations and activity playlists. To fix this, Yuan focused on the circular bubble art that Apple Music subscribers encounter when signing up for the service — which also references the iPod click wheel and iPhone contacts — while subtly altering colors and profile shots for the artist and playlist in question.

Yuan went on to address the basic UI complaints currently leveled at Apple Music, reducing the font size and white space of the app’s launch tab while also introducing a new “Watch” tab for the service’s upcoming slate of TV shows. He eliminated what he argued as extraneous UI additions, like the “Downloaded Music” front page menu option, and personalized For You so it introduces music based on location, time, and even recent social media activity.

The current Apple Music (left) compared with Yuan’s redesign (right)
Connect is gone for good in Yuan’s design as well.

Truth is, I didn’t see any data from my research that would justify keeping the Connect feed in the app as is. Users were more interested in connecting with friends and family through music (a la Spotify) instead of with artists through a watered-down Twitter.

I think Apple should focus on integrating existing social media with Apple Music instead of trying to push yet another one on its already overburdened consumers.

There are plenty of other highlights from Yuan’s list of redesign ideas, including tweaks to Now Playing, Browse, Search, and how users love or dislike a song. Yuan ended his article saying he’s happy with the knowledge he gained and progress he made redesigning Apple Music as a personal project, but never intended the tweaks to be taken seriously by Apple.

“I don’t expect the good folks at Apple Music to take anything from this case study,” Yuan mentioned. “In fact, I might actually have a heart attack if anyone working on Apple Music stumbles upon this article… but if you’re out there, I hope my work was able to give you some ideas and spark some conversations!”

Check out the rest of Yuan’s Apple Music changes in his Medium post right here.

Tag: Apple Music
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HP’s new Elite x2 is a 2-in-1 built to work from anywhere mobile data is available

Why it matters to you

Businesses no longer have to settle for nice-looking detachable tablets that lack the security and management they need.

The Windows PC ecosystem is stronger than it has ever been, with a host of new form factors making their way to market particularly in the mobile space. Windows 10 has features that work well with both touch-centric tablets and with the usual touchpad and keyboard, and so the 2-in-1 market, in particular, is full of excellent options.

Most Windows 10 2-in-1s, from detachable tablets to 360-degree convertibles, are aimed at the consumer market. HP hopes to change this with the second generation of its Elite x2 2-in-1, which offers the usual tablet plus keyboard form factor, plus all the company’s business-focused security and management features.

In terms of specifications, the Elite x2 1012 G2 offers a 12.3-inch WQXGA+ (2,736 x 1,824) resolution display that’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and 10-point multitouch sensor. HP’s Active Pen is supported with a reinforced pen tip, 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, and reduced palm sensitivity for an optimal Windows 10 Ink experience.

The tablet portion is .36 inches thick and weighs 1.77 pounds, which rises to .57 inches thick and up to 2.94 pounds, depending on which detachable keyboard is used. HP is offering two keyboard options, including the Collaboration Keyboard option that offers 1.5mm of key travel, and includes dedicated calendar, all end, present, and call answer buttons supporting Skype for Business functionality.

Processor options include seventh-generation Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7, maxing out at the Core i7-7600U. Up to 16GB of LPDDR3-1866 RAM can be configured, and a variety of storage options are available up to a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. A 47 watt-hour battery powers the machine via either a 45-watt or 65-watt USB Type-C AC adapter, with HP promising over 10 hours of battery life and a quick 30 minutes to charge the machine to 50 percent capacity.

A 5MP front-facing camera includes an infrared camera for Windows 10 authentication via facial recognition, and an 8MP rear camera is also included. A fingerprint reader is also on-hand for Windows 10 authentication.

Connectivity is provided by a USB Type-C 3.1 port with Thunderbolt 3, a USB Type-A 3.0 port, a microSD card reader, and a SIM slot for cellular connectivity. Wireless connectivity options are numerous, including Intel dual-band 801.11ac Wi-Fim Bluetooth 4.2, and various options for connecting to Global 4G LTE and WiGig mobile broadband networks.

In addition, HP touts the following business-specific features:

• The first commercial detachable to pass Skype for Business certification, with HP Noise Cancellation and HP Audio Boost providing excellent voice clarity.
• Class-leading serviceability that scored a 10 out of 10 from iFixit, compared to the iPad Pro’s three out of 10 and the Surface Pro 4’s four out of 10.
• HP multi-authentication technology that is hardened at the silicon level.
• HP Sure Start Gen3 self-healing BIOS that provides for automatic recovery.
• HP Manageability Integration Kit for deploying images, remote management, Microsoft SCCM plug-in, and Secure BIOS settings.
• HP Workwise smart office solution that offers a smartphone app for remote PC management, including locking/unlocking the PC, tamper detection, a PC Dashboard, and more.

We do not yet have pricing or availability on the HP Elite 1012 x2. When it does arrive, it promises to offer a unique blend of power, portability, flexibility, and manageability that should appeal to small businesses and enterprises alike.

New Solavore sport oven effectively cooks food using solar power

Why it matters to you

This tech will help cooks when camping, but it could also be used by those interested in getting off the grid.

Solar power has become an increasingly popular energy source around the globe — and it can now be utilized to cook entire backcountry meals. The new Solavore Sport Solar Oven is the most efficient design to date, using only the sun to heat food with the capacity to perform in varying weather conditions. 

Unique cookware company Solavore innovated a way to effectively convert light into heat, capture its energy, and use it as an mechanism in the preparation of regular food or gourmet sustenance — provided you’re a gourmet cook. This simple solar alchemy was first discovered by French-Swiss scientist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late 1700s. Solavore company founder Anne Patterson introduced the idea on a commercial scale in 2015. The basic Solavore Sport Solar Oven serves as the first successful model of this solar-powered vision, providing everything you needed to cook a meal outdoors using only the power of the sun.

The Solavore Sport Solar Oven with the TR-86 Reflector is an upgraded version of the original. The kit comes with two 3-quart granite-ware pots with lids, an oven thermometer, water pasteurization indicator, user manual with a plethora of recipes, and the unique updated oven. The Solavore Sport Oven incorporates a recycled nylon plastic housing for increased durability and resistance to the elements, a double-layered lid that provides for enhanced insulation, and a one-inch closed cell foam that repels moisture absorption.

The oven measures 9 1/4 by 17 1/2 inches, and serves equally for baking and cooking purposes.

The product’s newest feature is the detachable reflector that decreases pre-heating times and allows food to reach higher maximum temperatures. The new reflector achieves 86-percent total reflectance, increasing your cooking abilities on days with limited sunlight, at higher latitudes, and in generally colder elements.

The reflector is detachable from the stove and folds flat, making for easy transport. The Solavore Sport Oven with TR-86 Reflector retails for $287 on the company’s website, and shipping is free.

Xiaomi brings the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4X to Mexico

Xiaomi brings its latest budgets phones to North America.

Xiaomi has made its foray into the North American market. The Chinese manufacturer is launching the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4X in Mexico, with sales kicking off by the end of May. The Redmi 4X will retail for the equivalent of $210 (3,999 MXN), and the Redmi Note 4 will be sold for $290 (5,499 MXN).

The Redmi Note 4 is one of the best budget phones available today, featuring a 5.5-inch Full HD display, 2.0GHz Snapdragon 625, microSD slot, 13MP camera with PDAF, LTE, IR blaster, and a 4100mAh battery. The phone will be offered in two variants: a model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage and a version with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage.

As is evident by the price, the Redmi 4X is the less powerful of the two devices launching in Mexico, but it still delivers great value by way of a 5-inch 720p panel, 3GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, 1.4GHz Snapdragon 435, microSD slot, dual SIM card slots, 13MP camera with PDAF, 5MP front shooter, LTE, and a 4100mAh battery.

Offline availability of the Redmi Note 4 will kick off at Coppel, Best Buy, and Sam’s Club by the end of May, and customers will be able to pick up the device online via Amazon, Best Buy, Soriana, Elektra, and Walmart. The Redmi 4X will be launching at a later date.

Xiaomi will be looking to its fan community to drum up interest in its products, and as a result the manufacturer is rolling out the Mi Community app in Mexico. The app allows fans to engage with the brand, share feedback, and get early access to the company’s launch events.

As for making its devices available north of the border, Xiaomi’s global VP Wang Xiang stated last month that it will be at least until 2019 before its products are sold in the U.S.

Moving from Windows Phone to Android? Here’s what you need to know

It might hurt a little, but if you’re a Windows 10 Mobile user thinking of jumping ship to Android, we’re here to help.

One of Android’s most redeeming features is how open it is. You’re forced to have some Google involvement. But the truth is, you can make the switch and still be all about Microsoft if you want to. After all, why should you give up the services you love just because you change phone platforms?

The sad truth is Windows 10 Mobile just isn’t competing right now, and its future is unclear. Of course, we’d much prefer the opposite situation, but cold hard facts are impossible to ignore.

If you’re looking elsewhere and Android is where you’re headed, we have some tips to make the transition as painless as possible.

1. Sign up for a Google account first

The only absolute Google necessity you need on an Android phone is a Google Account. Without one, you can’t sign in to the phone or download apps. So if you don’t already have a Google Account, get one. It’s easier to do on your PC than on a phone, so it’s a good idea to do it in advance.

You’re not required to have a credit card on file to download apps or content from the Google Play Store, so you can literally just sign up for an account and use it to log into your phone. You don’t even have to use the Gmail app or any other forward-facing Google services. If you want to buy apps without using a credit card, you’ll need to pick up Google Play vouchers from a retailer and redeem the codes.

Sign up for a Google Account

2. Microsoft it all up

If you’re going to be keeping all your Microsoft services and accounts intact (why wouldn’t you?), you’ll be happy to know Android is your friend. Whether you just want to use Outlook, Office or Skype, or go nuts and install Microsoft’s own Android launcher and lockscreen, there’s a ton of Microsoft apps in the Play Store.

And they’re mostly pretty darn good.You won’t have to cancel Groove. You can still get the Xbox app. And your Outlook mail and calendars are safe. Better yet, Microsoft has a single app to help you find and download all of its other apps.

Download: Microsoft Apps
Best Microsoft apps for Android

3. Move your contacts to Google

While you may want to limit your Google involvement, if you’re moving to an Android phone it’s a good idea to sync your contacts to your Google Account. That way, it’s all easier to manage, and if you ever need to go back to Windows (or over to an iPhone), it’ll be simple to work with them.

The easiest way to do this is to go into Outlook on the web and export your entire contacts database as a CSV file. Here’s how:

Log in to Outlook.com.
Navigate to People.
Click the manage dropdown.

Select export contacts.

Click export.

All your Outlook contacts will be saved in a single file that you can import to your Google Account. This is another good reason to setup your Google Account before you get your new phone, because you’ll be able to just sign in and your contacts will be there.

Importing them into your Google Account is pretty straightforward.

Go to contacts.google.com.
Sign in with your Google Account.
Click more.
Click import and choose the CSV file you saved above.

Any new contacts you add to your Android phone can be synced with all of your existing contacts in one place on your Google Account. So even if you’re not using Gmail, it’s worth doing.

4. Use Cortana

Cortana can’t do quite as much on Android as on Windows, but it’s still pretty useful for more than just replacing the Google Assistant.

On Android, you can use Cortana to sync notifications to your PC, which is handy to have on any platform. But because you’re signed in with your Microsoft Account anyway, everything you already set up from Windows will be there, too.

We also happen to think that Cortana has a better personality than Google Assistant — and a better name!

Download: Cortana (free)

5. Install the Windows Central Android app!

Just because you’ve moved to Android doesn’t mean you can’t keep in touch with what’s happening in the world of Windows. Windows Central is committed to providing all the Microsoft content you want, and there’s an app in the Google Play Store so you can keep tabs from your new phone.

You’ll also want to keep checking out the Android Central, too. Then you’ll always have the best of both worlds.

Download: Windows Central app for Android (free

Your tips

These are some basic tips to help get started on an easy, Microsoft-filled life on Android. If you recently made the switch, help out your fellow readers by sharing your own tips and tricks in the comments below.

Google rolls out ‘Street View ready’ program for 360-degree cameras from Samsung, GoPro, and more

Google’s Street View certification program lets you easily publish 360-degree content.

Google has announced a “Street View ready” program that makes it easier for customers using 360-degree cameras to capture and upload imagery to Street View. 20 cameras will be available over the coming months, including products from Samsung, GoPro, 360Fly, Insta360, Xiaomi’s Yi Technology, and others.

The Street View certification covers four categories:

• Street View mobile ready: 360 cameras that can publish Street View directly from a mobile app—without requiring a desktop workflow

• Street View auto ready: 360 cameras tailored for vehicle-based collection with the highest accuracy

• Street View vr ready: 360 cameras or systems that collect geometry in addition to generating sets of connected 360 photos

• Street View workflow ready: Publishing tools (sometimes bundled with cameras) that can upload to Street View accounts

By launching the certification program, Google is making it easier to publish content to Street View, while also driving up interest in 360-degree cameras. We should get a look at some of the products later this week at the Street View Summit, so stay tuned.