“The same legalese that can ban Donald Trump from Twitter can bar users from joining class-action lawsuits,” warns the official Editorial Board of the New York Times, urging “It’s time to fix the fine print.” [Alternate URL here] [M]ost people have no idea what is signed away when they click “agree” to binding terms of service contracts — again and again…
Tag: watches
Smartwatches Can Help Detect COVID-19 Days Before Symptoms Appear
Smartwatches and other wearable devices that continuously measure users’ heart rates, skin temperature and other physiological markers can help spot coronavirus infections days before an individual is diagnosed. From a report: Devices like the Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit watches can predict whether an individual is positive for COVID-19 even before they are symptomatic or the virus is detectable by tests,…
New sunspot cycle could be among strongest on record
A study of oppositely charged magnetic field bands, moving in the sun’s northern and southern hemispheres, suggests the coming sunspot cycle – Cycle 25 – will be a particularly strong one. This result contradicts an earlier expert forecast, suggesting a weak Cycle 25. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sunspot-cycle-25-among-strongest-on-record-says-ncar…
Faster magnetic switch with lower energy consumption developed
Magnetic materials are ubiquitous in modern society, present in nearly all the technological devices we use every day. In particular, personal electronics like smartphones/watches, tablets, and desktop computers all rely on magnetic material to store information. Information in modern devices is stored in long chains of 1’s and 0’s, in the binary number system used as the language of computers. …
Garmin Introduces Esports Fitness Smartwatch For Streamers
Garmin has launched the Instinct Esports Edition, a “rugged GPS smartwatch uniquely designed for esports athletes and enthusiasts to take their gaming performance to the next level.” How is that possible, you ask? Gizmodo explains: Well, for starters, the watch adds an esports activity for tracking so you can monitor your heart rate and stress during a game. Garmin also developed…
Backdoor In Kids’ Smartwatch Makes It Possible For Someone To Covertly Take Pictures, Record Audio
The Xplora 4 smartwatch, made by Chinese outfit Qihoo 360 Technology Co, and marketed to children under the Xplora brand in the US and Europe, can covertly take photos and record audio when activated by an encrypted SMS message, says Norwegian security firm Mnemonic. The Register reports: This backdoor is not a bug, the finders insist, but a deliberate, hidden feature….
100,000 Apple Devices Repaired, Resold: Apple Sues Canadian Recycling Firm
Slashdot reader spth writes: At a Canadian recycling firm hired by Apple to scrap about 600,000 Apple devices, 100,000 of them were actually resold to other companies that made working devices from the parts. Apple now sues the recycling company for the money made from the sale plus 31 million Canadian dollars. The recycling company claims that the devices were resold…
Hubble watches exploding star fade into oblivion
When a star unleashes as much energy in a matter of days as our Sun does in several billion years, you know it’s not going to remain visible for long. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-hubble-star-oblivion.html…
Apple May Face EU Rules To Open Up Payment Technology
The European Union is weighing legislation that could force Apple to open iPhone payment technology to competitors. From a report: The potential rules would grant other payment services a right of access to infrastructure such as near-field communication technology embedded in smartphones, the European Commission said Thursday. While the EU didn’t explicitly name Apple, it said the “most commonly reported issue”…
Apple CEO Impressed By Remote Work, Sees Permanent Changes
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said he’s been impressed by employees’ ability to operate remotely and predicted that some new work habits will remain after the pandemic. During an interview at The Atlantic Festival on Monday, Cook said Apple created products including new Apple Watches and iPads that are launching on…