Sweetgreen’s iOS app logs calories directly to Apple Health

To this day, Apple Health still lacks a food database, leaving health-conscious iPhone owners with few options. Most people just end up relying on an Apple Health-integrated app, like MyFitnessPal, to tally all their meals. But, let’s face it, that can be a pain, especially when it comes to searching for stuff you eat on the fly. However, Sweetgreen has come up with a nifty idea to make life easier for calorie-counters. In what seems to be a first, the restaurant chain’s iPhone app lets you send your order’s dietary data to Apple Health from your cart.

The new option (spotted by AppleInsider) essentially cuts out the middleman. It also lets you rest easy in the knowledge that you’re logging the exact calorie count taken from the source. These things matter when you’re on a strict regimen. Frankly, it’s surprising more restaurant and food delivery apps don’t offer the feature. Then again, do you really want UberEats to track the calories in that late-night kebab?

Via: AppleInsider

iOS 11 Will Expand Your iPhone’s NFC Capabilities Beyond Apple Pay in Several Ways

Apple at WWDC 2017 last month introduced Core NFC, a new iOS 11 framework that enables apps to detect Near Field Communication tags.

Similar to Apple Pay, iPhone users are prompted with a “Ready to Scan” dialog box. After holding the iPhone near an item with an NFC tag, a checkmark displays on screen if a product is detected. An app with Core NFC could then provide users with information about that product contained within the tag.

A customer shopping at a grocery store could hold an iPhone near a box of crackers, for example, and receive detailed information about their nutritional values, price history, recipe ideas, and so forth. Or, at a museum, a visitor could hold an iPhone near an exhibit to receive detailed information about it.

Core NFC will expand the iPhone’s NFC chip capabilities beyond simply Apple Pay in several other ways.

A bottle of wine with an NFC tag similar to CapSeal
Cybersecurity company WISeKey, for example, today announced that its CapSeal smart tag will now support iPhone thanks to Core NFC. CapSeal smart tags are primarily used for authentication, tracking, and anti-counterfeiting on products like wine bottles. Many other companies offer similar solutions.

When placed on a bottle of spirit or a bottle of lubricant oil, for instance, and tapped by an NFC phone, the chip is able to securely authenticate and track the bottle like an ePassport does. It offers the same certified security level. It also allows the brand to broadcast personalized messages to the phone-holder detecting whether the bottle has been open or not.

Core NFC is currently supported by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and the framework is read-only for NFC tags of types 1 through 5 that contain data in the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF).

Developers interested in learning more can read Apple’s documentation or watch the Introducing Core NFC session from WWDC 2017.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
Tags: NFC, Core NFC
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Google wants more Google Earth content via your local stories

Google is planning to make Google Earth a lot more social. In the next few years, you will be able to share personal images and videos to the platform. As a result, Google envisions millions of public “stories” populating the tool. Viewers will then be able to spend even more time procrastinating by dipping in and out of the clips as they explore the global simulation.

It’s interesting to see Google embracing “stories.” The short-form mobile storytelling format has become commonplace since Instagram pinched it from Snapchat. It also conjures images of horrifying face-swap selfies and people donning virtual dog masks — which doesn’t seem appropriate for Google Earth now, does it? It does seem likely, however, that any future updates will be part of Google Earth’s “Voyager” feature. Launched in April, Voyager already boasts VR tours, city guides, and live-streams.

According to Google, the planet visualization tool will be better suited to more outdoorsy material. “The story of your family history, the story of your favorite hiking trip – it could be anything. It doesn’t have to be profound,” Google Earth Director Rebecca Moore told Reuters. Staying with the social media aspect, virtual maps that let you tune into global broadcasts are also integral to Twitter’s Periscope, Facebook Live, and Snapchat.

To give you a taster of what “stories” will look like, Google Earth is launching the “I Am Amazon” series on Voyager. Spread across 11 sites, the interactive project documents the relationship between the rainforest and its people. The stories are told using a mixture of video, text, and 360-degree VR. No one expects user uploads to match this kind of production value, and many of them will look amateurish at best — but that’s part of the charm.

Source: Reuters

Gudak turns your $1,000 iPhone into a $20 disposable camera

With their simple controls and lack of preview, disposable cameras are fun to use and let you relive the party once the film is developed. Gudak wants to give you that feeling with its iPhone app — it has a number of features that are pretty bizarre at first glance, but make sense if you get into the spirit of things.

You’re limited to 24 photos per day, and a “processing laboratory” tells you when the images are “developed.” That might seem weird if you’re used to taking 24 digital photos of one subject, but it does force you to choose the best moments. There’s also a tiny, simulated viewfinder that’s impractical as hell, but again, it means you can only do basic composition chores, rather than micromanaging the shot and spoiling the moment.

You also have to wait three entire days before you can see the images. Here, the app is really pushing it with the Kodak impression, trying to be the Daniel Day-Lewis of disposable camera apps. However, that was part of the charm of those cameras — you shot it and forgot it, then after developing the film, get your pals together, have some laughs and relive the party all over again.

There are even simulated “light leaks” randomly introduced into shots, along with the reddish, over-saturated color wash you remember. Sure, it’s a bit gimmicky, but it’s cute as hell and for $0.99, could be fun for awhile. It’s now on the iPhone app store, but not yet on Android.

Via: Petapixel

Source: Gudak (iTunes)

Oculus permanently discounts Rift and Touch bundle to $499

If you can’t spare $399 for the Oculus Rift and Touch bundle while it’s still on sale, don’t worry. The Facebook-owned company is permanently dropping the all-in-one package’s price to $499 once the sale ends in around six weeks. A bundle would’ve cost you almost $800 when the VR headset first became available until it got a $200 price cut (repriced to $598) in March. Another $99 off is a pretty sweet deal if you really can’t buy the package anytime soon, considering a standalone Rift and a pair of Touch controllers will already set you back $400 and $99, respectively.

Each Rift + Touch bundle includes the headset, two sensors, a pair of Touch controllers, cables and six free VR games/experiences — Lucky’s Tale, Medium, Toybox, Quill, Dead and Buried and Robo Recall. You can get the package from Oculus’ official website or from retailers where the device is sold. In case you’re not in a hurry to own a VR headset, though, and don’t want to invest in an Oculus-ready PC, you may want to check out Bloomberg’s latest report. The publication says Oculus is currently developing a $200 wireless VR headset that doesn’t need a PC or a phone slated for release in 2018.

Source: Oculus

ZTE’s Blade Spark raises the bar for $100 smartphones

If you’re wondering what $100 will get you in a smartphone nowadays in the US, ZTE has a solid reply with the Blade Spark. Available for AT&T Prepaid customers, it offers some nice things like a 5.5-inch HD display and 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera. That’s well and good, but there are some other surprising touches for such a cheap device: a rear fingerprint sensor, dedicated selfie button, Gorilla Glass 3, Dolby audio and Android 7.1.1, the very latest version.

The Blade Spark also looks kinda nice with a simple black front and grippy-looking dark gray back. You’re not going to be playing graphics-intensive games with the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chip and 2GB of RAM. But this is more aimed at folks that want a solid selfie camera, convenient access via the fingerprint sensor and a big screen and Dolby sound for reading, videos and photos. To help that, it also supports up to 128GB of microSD storage, on top of the 16GB built in.

It’s nice that the Blade Spark is up to the minute, security and features-wise, with Android Nougat — even recent flagship devices often aren’t. With malware coming at smartphones from all angles, that guarantees users should at least have the latest security patches. Since this device could end up in the hands of kids or teens, they’ll be a little better protected.

Source: AT&T

Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ theme park is taking shape

Universal Studios Japan recently released the first trailer for its in-construction Super Nintendo World attraction, and now Disney has gone one better by building an actual physical model showing off its upcoming Star Wars Land (unofficial title). Due to open in 2019 at both Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida, the new area “will transport guests to a never-before-seen planet” — which just happens to look like every weathered, forgettable world characters from the films briefly touch down on to get a ship part or intel or what have you.

There should be plenty to do at the “remote trading port” once you’ve filled your boots with expensive merchandise and your bellies with Yoda burgers. Ride specifics are pretty hazy, but Disney has revealed that visitors will control the Millennium Falcon on a secret mission as part of one signature attraction, while the other main draw will drop guests “in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.”

Star Tours, a Star Wars-inspired flight simulator, and several other attractions were up and running at various Disney parks long before the company waved a check in front of George Lucas he couldn’t pass up. Now Disney owns the rights to the extremely popular franchise, it makes sense to create a more elaborate live experience for fans to visit — especially after the shot-in-the-arm that was the last two movies. Though a few years off completion, anyone visiting Disney World in the future will be able to kill two film-inspired birds with one stone, diving into the mind of James Cameron through the new World Of Avatar experience.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Disney

Cops in Texas just rescued ‘a guy stuck inside an ATM’

Why it matters to you

It’s clearly wise to keep your phone on you at all times.

Imagine you’re at an ATM. You go through the motions, hitting the appropriate buttons to complete your transaction, and collect your cash. Just as you turn to leave, you spot a piece of paper slide through the receipt slot with what appears to be a note scrawled on it. You grab it to see what it says.

“Please help. I’m stuck in here and I don’t have my phone. Please call my boss on …”

You’re probably going to react in one of several ways. You might take a quick look around to check there isn’t some YouTube prankster filming you from afar. Or you might consider visiting the doc for a full health check. Then again, you might actually believe that there’s someone trapped inside the machine and decide to call the number.

The ATM user in Corpus Christi, Texas who recently experienced the above scenario opted for none of the above, instead choosing to grab the attention of a passing cop.

The pair approached the ATM, leaning in to confirm whether or not there really was someone stuck inside. To their surprise, they could hear “a little voice” coming from within.

Corpus Christi cop Richard Olden later confirmed what’s thought to be a world first — a human trapped inside an ATM.

“We have a once in a lifetime situation that you’ll probably never see or hear about again,” Olden told local media.

Hear from @CorpusChristiPD Senior Officer Richard Olden about an unusual incident Wednesday afternoon.https://t.co/oEMBi5xQAs pic.twitter.com/SJIOVLwZf7

— KRIS 6 News (@KRIS6News) July 12, 2017

Olden said the individual, who perhaps luckily for him hasn’t been named, was a contractor working to install an electronic lock on the bank’s ATM room. The lock apparently malfunctioned, leaving him stuck inside the small space behind the machine. He’d left his phone in the truck, but luckily had a pen and paper so was able to push notes through the machine calling for help.

“The officers that got here were actually yelling to him through the ATM machine as if a little guy was stuck inside the machine,” Olden said.

The cops called the trapped man’s supervisor but they were unable to unlock the door, leaving them with no choice but to knock it down.

“You’ll never see this again in your life,” Olden said, adding, “It was just crazy.”

Cops in Texas just rescued ‘a guy stuck inside an ATM’

Why it matters to you

It’s clearly wise to keep your phone on you at all times.

Imagine you’re at an ATM. You go through the motions, hitting the appropriate buttons to complete your transaction, and collect your cash. Just as you turn to leave, you spot a piece of paper slide through the receipt slot with what appears to be a note scrawled on it. You grab it to see what it says.

“Please help. I’m stuck in here and I don’t have my phone. Please call my boss on …”

You’re probably going to react in one of several ways. You might take a quick look around to check there isn’t some YouTube prankster filming you from afar. Or you might consider visiting the doc for a full health check. Then again, you might actually believe that there’s someone trapped inside the machine and decide to call the number.

The ATM user in Corpus Christi, Texas who recently experienced the above scenario opted for none of the above, instead choosing to grab the attention of a passing cop.

The pair approached the ATM, leaning in to confirm whether or not there really was someone stuck inside. To their surprise, they could hear “a little voice” coming from within.

Corpus Christi cop Richard Olden later confirmed what’s thought to be a world first — a human trapped inside an ATM.

“We have a once in a lifetime situation that you’ll probably never see or hear about again,” Olden told local media.

Hear from @CorpusChristiPD Senior Officer Richard Olden about an unusual incident Wednesday afternoon.https://t.co/oEMBi5xQAs pic.twitter.com/SJIOVLwZf7

— KRIS 6 News (@KRIS6News) July 12, 2017

Olden said the individual, who perhaps luckily for him hasn’t been named, was a contractor working to install an electronic lock on the bank’s ATM room. The lock apparently malfunctioned, leaving him stuck inside the small space behind the machine. He’d left his phone in the truck, but luckily had a pen and paper so was able to push notes through the machine calling for help.

“The officers that got here were actually yelling to him through the ATM machine as if a little guy was stuck inside the machine,” Olden said.

The cops called the trapped man’s supervisor but they were unable to unlock the door, leaving them with no choice but to knock it down.

“You’ll never see this again in your life,” Olden said, adding, “It was just crazy.”

Oops! Selfie attempt causes $200,000 worth of damage at L.A. art exhibit

Why it matters to you

It’s always a good idea to thoroughly check your surroundings before taking a selfie.

Selfie addicts don’t always like to get just themselves in the frame. They like to get shots alongside their best buddies, too, as well as any famous folks that happen upon. Fancy art exhibits are also proving to be a popular subject for selfie fans, though the seemingly straightforward process of firing up a smartphone and hitting the shutter button appears to be a bit much for some.

Take this disastrous effort by a recent visitor to the Hypercaine installation at The 14th Factory in Los Angeles. In a video (above) that captured the incident, we see a woman at the top right of the picture crouching down to prepare for her all-important selfie in front of a room full of exhibits. She appears to lean back on one of the pedestals, which sends it tumbling onto the next one, and then … well, you know how dominoes fall, right?

A post shared by The 14th Factory (@the14thfactory) on Jul 13, 2017 at 3:58pm PDT

At least 11 of the displays fall over, though there could be several more out of shot. We don’t know if the woman managed to get her photo before the calamity occurred, though the shot afterward would surely have been more ‘grammable.

The value of the damage was put at a whopping $200,000, making it possibly the most expensive selfie ever taken.

Perhaps such a mishap was always on the cards after a recent LA Times review of The 14th Factory described it as “a series of wondrous, over-the-top sets for the perfect selfie” in a piece headlined, “Oh, the selfies you’ll make at L.A.’s 14th Factory, where the art is so social.”

Selfie disasters

Of course, as selfie disasters go, it’s not the worst we’ve heard about. Seriously tragic incidents from the past include a man who accidentally shot himself in the head — yes, he died — while posing for a so-called “gun selfie”; a woman who fell to her death from a bridge in Seville, Spain after losing her footing while trying to grab a photo of herself; a tourist at Peru’s famous Machu Picchu ruins who also plunged to his death while framing a selfie; and a guy who was posing for a self-portrait on a railroad track when he was struck and killed by a train.