New Florence. New Renaissance.

Android apps for the hearing impaired

Google is starting to roll out two new features for Android phones today that are meant to help the some 900 million people around the world who the World Health Organization says will be suffering from hearing loss by the year 2055. The features are actually two apps for Android called Live Transcribe and Sound Amplifier, both of which do exactly what the names imply.

BGR

Evolving smartphone design

Imagine a phone that has no visible holes, no USB-C ports, no stereo minijack, no buttons, no SIM tray, no speaker grilles. A phone that feels like a solid slab of glass that magically lights up.

In theory it seems like an impossible sci-fi feat: How do you operate something completely devoid of buttons? How do you connect to the cell-phone network without a SIM?

Well, that’s exactly what two manufacturers have just pre-announced this week in preparation for MWC: the Vivo Apex 2019 and the Meizu Zero.

To get rid of USB-C and the headphone jack, the Meizu uses wireless charging, Bluetooth audio, and the usual LTE/Wi-Fi communications. The Vivo does the same, but charges through magnetic metal pins flush with the back surface and, instead of LTE, uses 5G.

To avoid speaker grilles, which are needed with traditional sound drivers so the sound blows out the body, these phones use piezo-electric technology that makes their OLED displays vibrate so they can act as loudspeakers.

To eliminate the buttons for power and volume, both Vivo and Meizu replaced them with touch surfaces integrated on the body’s edges. These surfaces have haptic feedback. When users touch them, they feel like they are clicking physical buttons, much like Apple did with the home button in the iPhone 7 and 8.

FastCompany

Docs as Apps

Its service looks a bit like a word processor; slices and dices data like a spreadsheet or word processor; and is so programmable that the end result can feel more like an app than a document. And though building a rich experience using Coda takes work, it offers “Packs”–bits of ready-made functionality that can do things like send text messages via Twilio or pull in driving directions from Google Maps–to speed the process.

Fast Company

 

iPhone as ophthalmologist

A pediatrician uses Gobiquity’s app on her iPhone to photograph a child’s eyes, highlighted by the phone’s flashlight, from a distance of about 3½ feet. GoCheck software analyzes how light refracts off the patient’s eyes to identify risks for nearsightedness, farsightedness, or eye cancer or other diseases.

If the software identifies a risk factor, a Gobiquity screening team confirms it and sends an alert to the child’s electronic health record, which notifies the pediatrician for a referral.

BusinessWeek

 

 

 

Spotify and Podcasts

"Based on radio industry data, we believe it is a safe assumption that, over time, more than 20% of all Spotify listening will be non-music content. This means the potential to grow much faster with more original programming — and to differentiate Spotify by playing to what makes us unique — all with the goal of becoming the world’s number one audio platform.

We are building a platform that provides a meaningful opportunity for creators, excites and engages our users, and builds an even more robust business model for Spotify in an industry we believe will become significantly larger when you add Internet-level monetization to it.

That’s why we announced today the strategic acquisitions of two podcasting companies, Gimlet and Anchor."

from a blog post by Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify

Here he is on CNBC

 

Smart apps for smart TVs

These days, you can easily run an app on your television—just invest in a software-packed smart TV or a video-streaming device that plugs into your existing set. Whichever option you choose, you'll find that the same program you have on your smartphone works differently on the bigger screen. For one, it spreads the visuals over a much larger display. And in a second difference, you have to control the TV with a remote control or gamepad rather than a touchscreen.

PopSci

Dion Hinchcliffe's "Every Day Carry"

Dion Hinchcliffe is one of my favorite analysts. I absolutely love his coverage of digital technologies. His slides are pure eye candy. 

I look forward to meeting him at events, even though we hardly ever talk enterprise tech. I live vicariously through his tales of exotic travel and foodie meals. And to be honest, I am usually curious about the latest gadget he is tagging along. Its always something new - last time I saw him it was the Insta360 video camera.

I managed to convince him to open up what I call his toy bag – he calls it his "Every Day Carry". If that is his EDC for business travel, imagine the drones, GPS trackers and other stuff he takes on his hikes with his twins. And how wired his car and home must be? 

I think I will have to make his EDC an annual feature for this blog. Bet it is filled with completely new items each year, especially after he discovers goodies at each CES. 

A - Apple iPad Pro 10.5"

B - A5 Memobottle (slides into bag easily and without bulk)

C - Belkin Portable Apple Watch Charger (for my Series 3 cellular)

D - Apple Earpods with Wireless Charging Case (so you can just drop it on a wireless charger)

E - Jawbone Portable Bluetooth Speakerphone

F - Tap Wearable Keyboard (for typing on the go, even when hands full pulling luggage)

G - Insta360 Full 360 Degree Video Camera (shoots everything in every direction, then you extract the shots you want)

H - OmniCharge 20 Ultra High Capacity USB Smart Battery Bank (for keeping everything charged)

I - Tough Braided USB/Lightning Charge Cables (anything else shreds after a few hard trips)

J - Novt Horizontal Folding Keyboard (can slip into blazer pocket for minimal carry, I use for live tweeting/blogging)

K - Micro Bluetooth Earbud - For calls/music with Apple Watch while walking/running, no phone required)

L - Anker PowerPort combined Adapter with Battery and USB-C (backup battery + wall adapter for OmniCharge as well as USB-C plug)

M - JBL Clip (best sounding portable travel bluetooth music speaker, hands down, can be clipped on anything)

N - Lightning adapters for HDMI, power + audio, and VGA

O - Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones (amazing travel headphones with bluetooth)

P - Tumi Card Case

Q - Tumi Coin Purse (for Europe, where they still use coins)

R - Travel Receipt Bag

S - TSA approved multitool including screwdrivers, bottle opener, 18 tools in all (has saved the day several times)

T - Emergency Lightning charger (if all else fails)

U - Smallest Lightning Multicharger (iPad, iPhone, and Apple Pencil at once)

V - Antislip Pads for Electronics on Small Airplane Trays

W - SD Card Wallet and Lightning Reader (always too full of pics and videos)

X - DJI Mavic Pro Drone (best drone on the market until the Mavic 2 came out, I get amazing aerials of tech events)

Y - DJI Mavic Remote Control

Not shown but honorable mention: Beam Authentic Wearable Wireless Name Badge (for custom badges during conferences)

Apple Watch ECG app

The most notable capability of the new ECG app is helping detect a condition known as atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that could be described as quivering. It can be a serious condition, leading to blood clot formation, strokes and heart failure. Patients may feel a "fluttering" in their chest, but symptoms can dissipate before they can get to a doctor for an ECG, making it challenging to conclusively diagnose. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 6.1 million Americans are living with a-fib, and that number is only expected to increase as the population grows older. Apple's hope is that with the single-lead ECG available anytime you are wearing your watch, you have a better chance at screening for atrial fibrillation at the time it is happening.

 

CNN Health

iPad Pro teardown

I am particularly fascinated by the new Apple Pencil, so enjoyed this tear down of the new tablet and the accessory 

The new iPad Pro 11” sports narrower bezels, curvy LCD corners, and cutting edge silicon. This is apparently the iPad Apple dreamed about building from the very beginning, but what we dream about is a device that is easy to repair. Will this iPad fulfill both dreams, or will ours be left in the pipe? There’s only one way to tell—with a teardown!

iFixit

Palm's wearable phone

Hold on—Palm? The once-mighty, now-defunct maker of the pioneering 1990s personal digital assistants and, later, smartphones? Not exactly. This is a brand-new startup, which has borrowed the original company’s name and at least some of its ethos. Its debut product, the device (Steph) Curry has affixed to himself, is itself known as the Palm. It resembles a smartphone, makes calls, and runs Android apps, but it’s remarkably diminutive—more like a few stacked credit cards than the Hershey bar–size handsets of today.

Despite its nostalgia-inducing moniker, the Palm—scheduled to arrive in November at 1,500 Verizon-owned stores plus resellers—is a new kind of gadget. (“We call the category ‘Palm,’ ” Miloseski declares when I ask, though he and Nuk also bandy about the term “ultra­mobile.”) Unlike a full-blown smartphone—which it aims to complement rather than replace—the Palm is small enough that you can easily strap it on like Curry is doing, tuck it into a yoga-pants pocket, or drape it around your neck on a lanyard. The software strives to be similarly minimal, safeguarding you against being pelted with notifications or seduced by Instagram, Candy Crush Saga, or other distractions. Palm envisions the $350 device as an alternative to wearables such as the $399 Apple Watch Series 4.

FastCompany