An app uses your smartphone camera to tell if you’re alert at work

In the boring old days, our smartphone cameras just took pictures. Then they started letting us confirm our identity, through tools like Apple’s Face ID. Soon, they could help track your alertness as well.

At least, that’s the basis for a new research project coming out of Cornell University. Researchers there have developed a tool which uses a smartphone camera to keep tabs on alertness at work — by measuring the size of your pupils each time you unlock your phone. It can do this because people’s pupils change size over the course of the day. When individuals are alert, the sympathetic nervous system makes their pupils dilate in order that they can take in information more easily. When they’re tired, the parasympathetic nervous system causes the pupils to contract. Since all of us look at our phones at work (don’t pretend this doesn’t include you!), developing an alertness measurement tool for this device makes perfect sense.

“The goal of this technology is to explore a new way in which we can measure people’s level of alertness in an unobtrusiveness and naturalistic way, in particular at the moments when people interact with their mobile devices,” Vincent Tseng, a Ph.D. student in Cornell’s Department of Information Science, told Digital Trends. “Essentially, the app takes a burst of images when people unlock their phone. [It additionally] collects other passive sensor data that also affect people’s alertness or pupil size, such as environmental light intensity. With all these passively collected sensor data, the application uses machine learning to predict how alert the user is, [which helps reveal their] reaction time.”

Sure, the idea of your boss receiving a notification to say your work smartphone has revealed that you’re not paying attention is kind of dystopian. But there are potential applications for this technology that would be genuinely helpful — and maybe even life-saving. For instance, clinicians typically look at devices (hopefully not their personal smartphones) during surgery. A front-facing camera on these devices could help track their alertness throughout procedures, which can take multiple hours to complete in some cases. Should the app detect a surgeon’s level of alertness to be plummeting, it could trigger an intervention that lets another person step in or the operator to take a short break.

“Our ultimate goal is to better understand how our productivity and performance fluctuate throughout the day,” Tseng continued. “By knowing how … different processes change throughout the day, we may have a better picture of when are the optimal times for us to focus and accomplish important tasks.”

A paper describing this project was recently presented at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Garmin Vivosmart 4 review
• Palm (2018) hands-on review
• Apple iOS 12 review
• Palm (2018): Everything you need to know
• Fitbit Charge 3 review

An app uses your smartphone camera to tell if you’re alert at work

In the boring old days, our smartphone cameras just took pictures. Then they started letting us confirm our identity, through tools like Apple’s Face ID. Soon, they could help track your alertness as well.

At least, that’s the basis for a new research project coming out of Cornell University. Researchers there have developed a tool which uses a smartphone camera to keep tabs on alertness at work — by measuring the size of your pupils each time you unlock your phone. It can do this because people’s pupils change size over the course of the day. When individuals are alert, the sympathetic nervous system makes their pupils dilate in order that they can take in information more easily. When they’re tired, the parasympathetic nervous system causes the pupils to contract. Since all of us look at our phones at work (don’t pretend this doesn’t include you!), developing an alertness measurement tool for this device makes perfect sense.

“The goal of this technology is to explore a new way in which we can measure people’s level of alertness in an unobtrusiveness and naturalistic way, in particular at the moments when people interact with their mobile devices,” Vincent Tseng, a Ph.D. student in Cornell’s Department of Information Science, told Digital Trends. “Essentially, the app takes a burst of images when people unlock their phone. [It additionally] collects other passive sensor data that also affect people’s alertness or pupil size, such as environmental light intensity. With all these passively collected sensor data, the application uses machine learning to predict how alert the user is, [which helps reveal their] reaction time.”

Sure, the idea of your boss receiving a notification to say your work smartphone has revealed that you’re not paying attention is kind of dystopian. But there are potential applications for this technology that would be genuinely helpful — and maybe even life-saving. For instance, clinicians typically look at devices (hopefully not their personal smartphones) during surgery. A front-facing camera on these devices could help track their alertness throughout procedures, which can take multiple hours to complete in some cases. Should the app detect a surgeon’s level of alertness to be plummeting, it could trigger an intervention that lets another person step in or the operator to take a short break.

“Our ultimate goal is to better understand how our productivity and performance fluctuate throughout the day,” Tseng continued. “By knowing how … different processes change throughout the day, we may have a better picture of when are the optimal times for us to focus and accomplish important tasks.”

A paper describing this project was recently presented at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Garmin Vivosmart 4 review
• Palm (2018) hands-on review
• Apple iOS 12 review
• Palm (2018): Everything you need to know
• Fitbit Charge 3 review

Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs. Huawei Mate 10 Pro: How much better is the new flagship?

Huawei has finally unveiled the all-new Huawei Mate 20 series, including the flagship Mate 20 Pro. The new device boasts top-tier specs, an excellent design, and a number of exciting new technologies — including an in-display fingerprint sensor.

But the Huawei Mate 20 Pro has big shoes to fill. Last year’s Mate 10 Pro was also much-loved, boasting excellent specs and a great design. Can the new Mate in town take out the older Mate 10 Pro? We put the two phones head-to-head to find out.

Specs

Huawei Mate 20 Pro 
Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Size
157.8 x 72.3 x 8.6 mm (6.22 x 2.85 x 0.34 inches)
154.2 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm (6.07 x 2.93 x 0.31 inches)

Weight
189 grams (6.66 oz)
178 grams (6.28 oz)

Screen size
6.4-inch AMOLED display
6.0-inch AMOLED display

Screen resolution
3,120 x 1,440 pixels (538 pixels-per-inch)
2,160 x 1,080 pixels (402 pixels-per-inch)

Operating system
Android 9.0 Pie
Android 8.0 Oreo

Storage space
128GB
64GB, 128GB

MicroSD card slot
No – features proprietary Nano Memory Card
No

Tap to pay services
Google Pay
Google Pay

Processor
Kirin 980
Kirin 970

RAM
6GB
4GB, 6GB

Camera
Triple sensor 40MP + 20MP + 8MP rear, 24MP front
Dual 12MP + 20MP rear, 8MP front

Video
2,160p at 30 frames per second, 1,080p at 60 fps, 720p at 960 fps
2,160p at 30 frames per second, 1,080p at 60 fps

Bluetooth version
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 4.2

Ports
USB-C
USB-C

Fingerprint sensor
Yes (In-display)
Yes

Water resistance
IP68
IP67

Battery
4,200mAh
4,000mAh

App marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store

Network support
No U.S. support
AT&T, T-Mobile

Colors
Emerald Green, Midnight Blue, Twilight, Pink Gold, Black
Midnight Blue, Titanium Gray, Mocha Brown

Price
1,050 Euros (around $1,220)
$500

Buy from
Huawei
Amazon

Review score
Hands-on
4 out of 5 stars

Performance, battery life, and charging

Mate 20 Pro Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

As you might expect, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is clearly a better performer than the older Huawei Mate 10 Pro — thanks largely to an upgraded processor. While the Mate 10 Pro features Huawei’s own Kirin 970 processor, the Mate 20 Pro steps things up with a newer-generation Kirin 980, which is around 20 percent faster and 40 percent more power efficient than the older chip. That’s not to say that the Kirin 970 isn’t a great chipset — it is — but the Kirin 980 is clearly a better performer. In the Mate 10 Pro, the processor is coupled with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, along with either 64GB or 128GB of storage, while the Mate 20 Pro sticks with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The battery inside the Mate 10 Pro was already a great performer, coming in at 4,000mAh — but the Mate 20 Pro takes it up a notch to 4,200mAh. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the phone will last longer on a charge, especially considering the larger, higher-resolution display. Still, it does bode well for a long battery life. Batteries can be charged a few different ways depending on the phone. On the Mate 20 Pro, you’ll enjoy wireless charging support, as well as Huawei’s own “Super Charge 2.0,” which is a 40W charging system that should charge the phone to 70 percent in just 30 minutes. The Mate 10 Pro doesn’t have wireless charging, and offers the original Huawei Super Charge, which will charge to around 55 percent in 30 minutes.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Design and durability

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro features a modern design thanks to its edge-to-edge display and all-glass build. It does have a notch, which may not please all Android fans, but it’s not an overly deep or pronounced notch — like the one on the Google Pixel 3 XL — meaning that it’ll be easy to forget about. The display on the device comes in at 6.4 inches.

The Mate 10 Pro may not look quite as modern as the newer phone, but it’s still not a bad-looking device. There’s a small forehead and chin on the phone, but they’re easy to ignore.

When it comes to durability, the phones are very similar. Both phones feature a glass build, despite the Mate 10 Pro not offering wireless charging. The main difference, of course, is the water resistance — the Mate 10 Pro has a rating of IP67, while the Mate 20 Pro steps things up to IP68.

The Mate 20 Pro features a more modern design and is slightly more durable. It’s the clear winner.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Display

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

When it comes to display, it’s another easy win for the newer phone. Both the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro feature AMOLED displays. However, while the display on the Mate 10 Pro comes in at 6 inches with a resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels for a pixel density of 402 pixels-per-inch, the Mate 20 Pro is a serious upgrade with s 6.4-inch display, 3,120 x 1,440 resolution, and 538 pixels-per-inch pixel density. That makes the Mate 20 Pro’s display one of the best on the market.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Camera

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro had one of the best smartphone cameras available at its time of release, boasting a dual-sensor setup with one 12-megapixel sensor and one 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, both with an aperture of f/1.6. Other features include optical image stabilization, laser autofocus, and more. We found that in the real world, the camera was pretty spectacular too — photos were crisp and detailed, while colors were nice and vibrant.

The Mate 20 Pro, of course, aims to improve on this. The new device features three sensors instead of two, including one 40-megapixel main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, one 20-megapixel wide-angle sensor with an aperture of f/2.2, and one 8-megapixel telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.4. On the front, you’ll find a 24-megapixel sensor. The Mate 20 Pro’s camera performs extremely well, and it’s definitely more versatile than the camera in its predecessor.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Software and updates

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

Both the Mate 10 Pro and Mate 20 Pro are Android phones, and they feature Huawei’s Android skin, EMUI. The Mate 10 Pro ships with Android 8.0 Oreo, though an update to Android 9.0 Pie has started rolling out. The Mate 20 Pro, on the other hand, ships with Android 9.0 Pie — so it’s relatively up to date.

Huawei isn’t known for for updating phones quickly, which may be frustrating for those who like to get new Android features as soon as they become available. If that’s you, then perhaps you’re better off with a Pixel phone.

EMUI may also not be for everyone. Icons are a little different, and there are a range of tweaks to how the software works, which might be a little confusing for a first-time Huawei user.

The software experience on these phones is going to be very similar, but given the fact that the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is newer, and therefore expected to be supported with updates for longer, it’s the winner here.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Special features

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Both the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro feature Huawei’s own Neural Processing Unit, or NPU — however the one in the Mate 20 Pro is likely to be faster and more powerful. On top of that, the Mate 20 Pro offers features like a new Face ID-like facial-recognition system and an in-display fingerprint sensor, helping it win this category.

Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Price

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro has been out for a year now and has been discounted a few times. Right now, you can get one on Amazon for $500. The Mate 20 Pro, on the other hand, is brand-new — so expect flagship phone pricing. The device isn’t actually coming to the U.S., but in Europe it’ll be available starting at 1,049 euros, which equates to around $1,220.

Overall winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

No surprises here — the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is clearly the better phone. It offers better performance, better design, a better display, and a better camera too. That’s not to say that the Mate 10 Pro isn’t a great device — in fact, of these two phones, it might be the only option available to you, due to the fact that the Mate 20 Pro isn’t coming to the U.S. The older phone is also potentially less than half the price. But if you do have a choice between the two and don’t mind spending the extra cash, we definitely recommend buying the Mate 20 Pro.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs. Mate 20 vs. Mate 20 X vs. Mate 20 Lite
• Huawei Mate 20, Pro, and X: Everything you need to know
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro hands-on review
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs. P20 Pro: Which 2018 Huawei flagship is best for you?
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Flagship fight

Struggling to start a good habit? Simone Giertz’s Every Day Calendar can help

Simone Giertz is best known as the creator of too many terrible robots to name — and we mean that as a compliment. The oddball niche has turned the 27-year-old Giertz into a YouTube superstar, with 1.3 million subscribers and a total of 65 million video views. “I think people just like seeing failure,” Giertz told Digital Trends a couple years back, describing the unlikely success of her crappy contraptions.

Failure isn’t a word we’d associate with Giertz’s latest project, however. Her first venture into crowdfunding, Giertz’s “Every Day Calendar” launched on Kickstarter this week, and has already smashed its funding target by more than 10 times. In doing so, it has racked up upward of $250,000 with its promise of inspiring people to obtain their goals.

As with a lot of the projects which capture the public’s imagination on Kickstarter, the Every Day Calendar has a simple premise. It’s essentially a big printed circuit board which uses capacitive touch and LEDs to light up the individual days as you achieve your goal. For instance, if your goal is to go for a jog every day or eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, you tap the date as you complete the task and illuminate that section of the calendar. The idea is that this kind of visual reward system will make you more likely to stick to your goal, particularly as the year goes on and you don’t want to ruin your winning streak.

“Hang the Every Day Calendar in your home, office, workshop, cavern, laboratory, castle, barn or boat,” Giertz writes on the Kickstarter page. “Just make sure that it’s someplace where you see it every day. The Every Day Calendar is 0 percent internet connected, so no apps, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or computer programs are needed to set it up. Just plug it into the wall and you’re ready to go.”

As ever, we should point out the inherent risks in crowdfunding campaigns, which don’t always ship in a timely fashion, in the state that has been promised or, sometimes, at all. Giertz’s Every Day Calendar also has something of a long lead time, since she’s not promising to deliver it until December 2019. Nonetheless, if you’re keen to get involved, head over to the Kickstarter project page, where you can pledge your cold, hard cash. Prices start at $300, although an extra $50 will also get you a T-shirt, photo, and “fancy enamel pin.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• For Monaris, it’s a photography career launched on an iPhone and Instagram
• D.Va goes it alone in an explosive new ‘Overwatch’ animated short
• Behind the unsettling sci-fi landscapes of Simon Stalenhag’s ‘Electric State’
• Baywatch’s Alexandra Daddario helps Autotrader search pups like pickups
• Say a little prayer for Aretha Franklin: Iconic soul singer passes away at 76

Apple begins testing Group FaceTime for MacOS Mojave, again

MacOS Mojave users will soon be able to join Group FaceTime chats, a feature that allows up to 32 people to simultaneously participate in a video call. Apple had tested Group FaceTime chats before through early MacOS developer betas, but it ultimately removed the feature prior to launching MacOS 10.14. Now, like with the developer and public betas for iOS 12.1, Apple is reintroducing the feature for testing in its fifth beta of MacOS Mojave 12.14.1, which was released to developers this week.

If the testing is successful, Group FaceTime will likely launch to consumers as part of Apple’s MacOS Mojave 10.14.1 release. This will allow families, businesses, and organizations that have standardized on an iOS and MacOS workflow to hold group video chats over FaceTime. Previously, FaceTime was limited to a one-to-one connection. Though multiple people can be huddled around a single iPhone or Mac to hold a video call, FaceTime does not allow multiple people in separate locations to join the same call. Group FaceTime changes that, and unlike platforms like Microsoft’s Skype or Google’s Hangouts, additional software isn’t required, as FaceTime is a preinstalled experience on Apple’s phones, tablets, and computers.

In addition to restarting its testing of Group FaceTime, the fifth beta of MacOS Mojave 10.14.1 also introduced 70 new emoji, according to a report on AppleInsider. The new emoji match the additions that Apple also introduced in its recent iOS 12.1 beta release. This way, MacOS and iPhone users will be able to see the same emoji when they message each other through iMessage.

It’s unclear when Apple will launch MacOS 10.14.1. But given that Apple has a press event scheduled for October 30 that is widely believed to see the introduction of refreshed iPad and MacBook products, the company could use the venue to showcase some of the new features that will be part of MacOS 10.14.1. Apple announced MacOS Mojave earlier this summer, but the latest operating system was only released to consumers this fall. Mojave introduced a number of notable changes to the Mac computing experience, including a new dark mode, new apps that are ported from iOS to MacOS, and a new workflow for marking up and editing screenshots. If you haven’t installed MacOS Mojave, be sure to read our review for more details.

Editors’ Recommendations

• MacOS Mojave officially launches on September 24
• How to download and install the MacOS Mojave
• Apple’s latest feature ensures MacOS apps are safer than ever
• MacOS Mojave review
• The 5 best features in MacOS Mojave

Show off your Pixel 3 while keeping it safe with a clear case

The Google Pixel 3 is a beautifully crafted phone with a thin profile and an iconic look. It’s only natural you’d want to show that off, but the Pixel 3 is also a phone with a glass back and a very high price tag, so you should really, really get a case on it. Thankfully, clear cases can keep your phone safe while showing it off for all the world to see.

Crystal clear choice

Spigen Liquid Crystal

$15 at Amazon

Eschewing bulkier hard-plastic backs, the Liquid Crystal’s flexible TPU is easy to apply and easier to grip. This crystal clear case gives your Google Pixel 3 light protection that is as thin as it is beautiful.

A clear deal

MoKo Clear Case

If you want to show off your new Pixel 3, MoKo’s clear case is for you. Its soft TPU material that adds grip without covering up the Pixel 3’s beauty and precise cutouts ensure it doesn’t get in the way of the charging port, camera, and speakers.

$8 at Amazon

Translucent treat

Cimo Slim Grip

$8 at Amazon

Clear cases can be boring. Cimo knows that you want to show off your Pixel 3, but show some personality, too. Its Slim Grip’s translucence lets your Pixel’s design shine through blue or purple — or clear if you want to be plain. What? No, I’m not judging you.

Crystal-clear drop-protection

Tech21 Evo Check

$40 at Google Store

Some people have a tendency to drop their phones. It’s just a fact of life, and knowing this, Google partnered with impact masters Tech21 for the Evo Check Pixel 3 case. It’s rated to keep your phone safe from repeated 12-foot drops and does so without adding any unnecessary bulk.

Smooth operator

Caseology Waterfall

$13 at Amazon

Caseology is one of the most trusted casemakers around, and the detailed quality they bring to cases like the Waterfall keep us coming back year after year. The back corners of the Waterfall have almost invisible bumpers to help keep the hard acrylic back from scratching on dirty desktops.

Unique design

Ringke Fusion-X

$10 at Amazon

Sturdy impact resistant bumpers safeguard against unwanted drops and bumps, and while the more subtle black is a solid choice, the translucent Ruby Red gives the Pixel 3 a bold and dangerous gleam. Ringke also adds anchor points to the Fusion X so you can attach it to a wrist strap or lanyard.

Ghost case

ESR Essential Zero case

“Zero” is an apt name for this incredibly thin clear case. It’s made of flexible TPU rubber and is only 1 millimeter thick at its thinnest point. There are raised edges around the camera and screen to protect each from scratches, and there’s a “microdot” pattern on the inside of the back to prevent that wet, clingy look.

$13 at Amazon

Dual-layer design

Speck Presidio

If you’re looking for a little more protection and don’t mind a smidgen of bulk, the Speck Presidio features a flexible TPU interior and a hard plastic outer shell for extra drop and scratch protection. The outside is also coated to prevent fingerprints and discoloration.

$40 at Best Buy

Bonus kickstand

Spigen Ultra Hybrid S

Spigen’s clear Ultra Hybrid S features a built-in metal kickstand, which isn’t incredibly sturdy, but it’ll do in a pinch. The fit of the case is excellent, offering great tactile feedback on the button covers, and a raised lip around the camera and screen to protect the glass from scratches.

$14 at Amazon

Barely there

totallee Thin Pixel 3 Case

If you’re only looking for scratch protection, then check out totallee’s incredibly thin case, which has a frosted, translucent finish, which is matte and grippy. It’s prefect if you like to keep your phone in your pocket.

$28 at Amazon

For my money, I’d just as soon get a clear case that has some color to it, like the Cimo Slim Grip, because colored clear cases tend to have less discoloration and yellowing over time than traditional crystal-clear cases. Add some color and some serious protection with the Tech21 Evo Check; it may be the most expensive case on this list, but if you’re hard on your phones, it’ll be more than worth it.

Mechanical keyboards, SanDisk storage, and more are discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

There’s never a shortage of deals available, but sorting through all of them can be difficult at times. We’ve handpicked all the best tech, and everyday essentials discounts that you can take advantage of right now and brought them to one central location. From SanDisk storage solutions to bean bag chairs, these are today’s best deals.

Tech Deals

View the rest of the deals

Everyday Essentials

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

What is Amazon Alexa Guard?

Best answer: Alexa Guard is Amazon’s way of turning you Echo speakers into a security system by having the speakers listen for specific sounds.

Amazon: Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen) ($150)

Amazon: Ring Video Doorbell 2 ($200)

Amazon: Ring Stick Up Cam ($180)

Amazon: Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit ($200)

What is Amazon Alexa Guard?

Alexa Guard will be a way you can use your existing Echo speakers to build a home security system. Here’s how it’ll work: your Echo speakers already have microphones on them to hear voice commands. If you tell your speaker you’re leaving the house, the microphones will start monitoring for strange sounds.

Those sounds can be glass breaking, a smoke and carbon monoxide detector blaring, or other specific sounds. This doesn’t need new hardware: Amazon just trained Alexa to be able to detect those noises. If it does detect something, you’ll get an alert on your smartphone.

Alexa Guard will get even better the more smart home pieces you have. If you have smart lights installed and hooked up to Alexa, it will randomly turn your lights on and off to simulate someone being home. If you have a security system from Ring or ADT, Alexa Guard will be able to send an alert to whoever is monitoring your home.

When can I use Amazon Alexa Guard?

Amazon announced the new feature in fall 2018, but did not specify when it would roll out to users.

A smarter speaker

Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen)

$150 at Amazon

Home automation, great sound and now: home security.

Amazon’s Echo Plus speaker lets you listen to your favorite music, control your smart home, and so much more. And with Alexa Guard, it’ll keep an ear out when you’re away from home.

Eyes up

Ring Video Doorbell 2

$200 at Amazon

Keep an eye on your stuff.

If you don’t already have an Echo speaker and want something for home security, you may as well spring for a security camera. This model from Ring will keep a watch over your entryway, and you’ll be able to check on it at any time from your smartphone.

Look inside

Ring Stick Up Cam

$180 at Amazon

A camera for inside the home.

If you have a camera pointing outside, you may as well get one for indoors as well. This Ring camera can be placed anywhere inside your home, and ties in nicely with Alexa. The camera can alert you with Alexa Guard, or you can check in at any time from Ring’s app.

Shine bright

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit

$200 at Amazon

Light up your whole home.

Whether you use them with Alexa Guard to deter intruders, or to compliment the lighting during your favorite movie, Philips Hue are the smart bulbs to have. This kit includes a hub that will connect all the bulbs to your internet router, as well as four bulbs. If you get more bulbs in the future, the hub you already have can be used to connect those.

‘GrayKey’ iPhone Unlocking Box No Longer Works After iOS 12 Update

Apple has effectively disabled the GrayKey iPhone unlocking device used by law enforcement agencies to crack the passcodes on iPhones, reports Forbes.

Multiple anonymous sources have told Forbes that the GrayKey box is unable to obtain the passcodes of any iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 or later.

GrayKey iPhone cracking box, via MalwareBytes.
On these devices, law enforcement agencies are limited to a partial extraction that provides unencrypted files and metadata like file size and folder structure.

It is not clear what method Apple used to block GrayKey access to iPhones running iOS 12 and later. Vladimir Katalov, CEO of ElcomSoft, said Apple’s method is unknown.

“No idea. It could be everything from better kernel protection to stronger configuration-profile installation restrictions,” he suggested. The kernel is the core part of the operating system, from which the rest of iOS launches. Configuration profiles typically allow individuals and companies to customize the ways in which iOS apps work.

Details about the GrayKey box, made by a company called Grayshift, first leaked in March of this year. Provided to law enforcement agencies, the GrayKey box connects to an iPhone and then installs proprietary software that’s designed to crack the passcode of the device.

It can take as little as 6.5 minutes for the box to crack a 4-digit passcode, while a 6-digit passcode can be calculated in approximately 11 hours.

Apple in an iOS 11 update introduced a new USB Restricted Mode feature that prevents USB accessories like the GrayKey box from connecting to an iPhone or iPad if it’s been more than an hour since the device was last unlocked.

It was believed that this would prevent the GrayKey device from working, but after details on USB Restricted Mode were released, forensic experts said that it had already been defeated.

It’s not known if USB Restricted Mode had an impact or if Apple implemented another method for blocking the GrayKey box, but companies like Grayshift are likely to find a workaround or a new method for cracking the iPhone.

As Rochester Police Department Captain John Sherwin told Forbes, there’s always a new method in the works. “Give it time and I am sure a ‘workaround’ will be developed … and then the cycle will repeat,” he said. Someone is always building a better mousetrap, whether it’s Apple or someone trying to defeat device security.”

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
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What’s it like to die? This VR experience puts doctors in a dying man’s shoes

Virtual reality may be able to transport you to spectacular other worlds, but a large part of its promise is the ability to also put you into the shoes of other people. In doing so, the hope is that VR could help make us more empathetic, since it gives us the ability to literally experience life from another person’s perspective.

That’s what VR studio Embodied Labs hopes to do. Based in Los Angeles — arguably the entertainment capital of the world — Embodied Labs wants to use cutting edge virtual reality to do something more than provide escapism. It wants to use it to promote empathy. And it wants to do it in such a way that can help train tomorrow’s caregivers.

We’ve previously covered Embodied Labs’ work creating a virtual experience intended to simulate the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Called “The Beatriz Lab: A Journey Through Alzheimer’s Disease,” it follow the fictitious character Beatriz, a math teacher in her 60s, as she grapples with the neurodegenerative disease. Now Embodied Labs is back with another virtual training tool, this time designed to function as an end-of-life simulation for educating staff and medical students in hospices, hospitals, and universities. It’s currently being used at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, Maine, as well as by medical students at the University of New England.

Meet Clay

The 30-minute simulation places users in the role of “Clay,” a 66-year-old lung cancer patient in need of hospice care. During the course of the VR story, Clay has important conversations with family, suffers a fall that puts him in the E.R., and eventually winds up in hospice care. Through simulating physical changes in virtual reality — such as how Clay’s skin alters and his senses dull — the user also gets to feel some approximation of what it would be like to experience end-stage cancer. By the end of the experience, Clay’s eyesight becomes dim as his life comes to a close. For anyone who associates VR predominantly with gaming, the effect is surprisingly poignant.

Embodied Labs

“The embodied experience includes receiving a terminal diagnosis from your oncologist, counseling from your case manager, and care from your hospice provider and family, and ultimately, it involves reaching the end of your life,” Erin Washington, co-founder and COO at Embodied Labs, told Digital Trends. “By embodying Clay, people gain insights into challenges faced by patients and families when curative treatment is not available, learn how hospice care supports loved ones, and explore the physical, spiritual, and mental changes that may occur at end of life.”

Embodied Labs provides an experience that caregivers or clinicians cannot get simply by reading textbooks.

Through its painstakingly created and very human VR experiences, the company has cornered the market on a type of next-generation training tool. It provides an experience that caregivers or clinicians cannot get simply by reading textbooks.

“Embodied Labs creates immersive training and wellness tools for healthcare students, and for professional and family caregivers, so they can feel more empowered and confident in having the difficult conversations that surround end-of-life decisions,” Washington continued. “Organizations such as skilled nursing facilities, medical schools, hospice and home care agencies, and assisted-living providers use Embodied Labs to improve outcomes, operations, and culture.”

In addition to creating its experiences, Embodied Labs creates customized assessment questions to be answered before and after staff and students sample a VR scenario. This qualitative and quantitative data can then be used to provide new insights, on the part of professionals, into things such as how conversations about end-of-life are carried out.

Building empathy

But does this actually work, or is this a case of creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t actually exist? In fact, according to a new piece of research, virtual reality really be prove to be a useful tool in encouraging empathy.

In a study published this month in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, researchers from Stanford University compared the attitudes of people who had read a first-person narrative piece of writing about homelessness, those who had experienced a 2D interactive narrative about it on computer, and those who had undergone a perspective-taking VR scenario on the same topic. They found that the people who had experienced the VR simulation were more likely to sign a petition to support homeless populations. Follow-up surveys also found that they experienced longer-lasting empathetic feelings than those who had done the narrative-reading task.

Attempts to “gamify” complex scenarios risk inadvertently diminishing them.

Of course, there are problematic aspects with the idea of building empathy through VR. A 30-minute simulation about end-of-life conversations is not the same thing as experiencing it for real. A person really experiencing the effects of homelessness or discriminatory activity cannot simply take off their headset when they decide they’ve had enough of their life circumstances. Attempts to “gamify” complex scenarios risk inadvertently diminishing them, and carry the chance of turning something intended for good into something exploitative.

However, properly considered, there is room for virtual reality as a teaching tool. Certainly, it needs the proper care and attention of trained professionals, and it shouldn’t be considered a substitute for other forms of teaching. But as something that we’re glad to see being explored? Absolutely. And if it potentially means more empathetic treatment for yourself and your fellow human beings, you should be, too.

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