Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, March 17, 2014

drag2share: One Day Your Smartphone's Screen Could Be Used To Test Blood

Source: http://gizmodo.com/one-day-your-smartphones-screen-could-be-used-to-test-1545401478

One Day Your Smartphone's Screen Could Be Used To Test Blood

Patients who rely on the use of coagulants to limit the formation of blood clots in their veins also require frequent and regular trips to the hospital for tests to monitor their blood flow. It's a time-consuming side effect that researchers at EPFL hope they've solved with a portable test that relies on a smartphone's display's unique properties.

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drag2share: Report: Apple Healthbook Will Track Your Life Down to Every Breath

Source: http://gizmodo.com/report-apple-healthbook-will-track-your-life-down-to-e-1545455810

Report: Apple Healthbook Will Track Your Life Down to Every Breath

For a couple months now we've been hearing about Apple's plans to release a new fitness tracking system in the near future called Healthbook. This morning, 9to5Mac reports a lot of details about the rumored health-monitoring app for iOS. The app is impressively exhaustive. How is all of this possible? We're loathe to say an iWatch might be coming...but maybe?

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Article: Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom details allegedly come to light

The camera-centric Galaxy S5 spinoff could be among Samsung's first to employ its hexa-core processor. The camera-focused Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom, a variation on the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S5, could feature a 20-megapixel rear camera and a hexa-core processor, according to new benchmarks. Than...

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57620365-251/samsung-galaxy-s5-zoom-details-allegedly-come-to-light/

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Article: Will transparent caching reshape the future of video on the internet?

When Comcast and Netflix signed a peering agreement last month that lets the two networks directly connect to each other, it also meant that Netflix would be paying Comcast to deliver its online video. From Comcast’s perspective, this deal helps offset the stress it believes online video delivery...

http://gigaom.com/2014/03/14/will-transparent-caching-reshape-the-future-of-video-on-the-internet/

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drag2share: Overhead Laser Lights That Illuminate With Images and Video

Source: http://gizmodo.com/overhead-laser-lights-that-illuminate-with-images-and-v-1541538870

Overhead Laser Lights That Illuminate With Images and Video

As far as giant corporations go, it's usually Sony that's willing to a take risk on an unorthodox new product. But this time it's Panasonic's turn with the company's new Space Player that combines overhead lighting with compact projectors letting you project everything from different colors, to still images, to videos and animation.

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drag2share: A Simple Adapter Lets the iPhone Assist in Eye Exams

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-simple-adapter-lets-the-iphone-assist-in-eye-exams-1542345459

A Simple Adapter Lets the iPhone Assist in Eye Exams

We've already got machines that give ophthalmologists a close-up view of the inside and outside of the human eye. The problem is they're big and heavy, expensive, and rarely accessible to those in third world nations. So researchers at Stanford University have created a simple iPhone add-on that lets almost anyone, anywhere, perform eye exams.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

drag2share: Kinect and Unreal Engine 4 power Alzheimer's and dementia care project (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/17/unreal-engine-4-alzheimers-dementia-therapy/

Sure, virtual reality and browser-based games are impressive, but Unreal Engine 4's latest use is a bit more noble: improving the lives of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. The Forest Project uses the game engine, smart TVs and Microsoft's Kinect 2 tech in an attempt to create a temporary reprieve for those suffering from the cognitive diseases via an interactive, virtual woodland. There's also a virtual dementia simulation that aims to help caregivers understand first-hand how their patients see the world, possibly improving care as a result. Should the dev team reach its crowdfunding goal, the arboreal environment could be just the beginning, with beach or Christmas-themed environments hinted as possible expansions.

Opaque Multimedia and Alzheimer's Australia Vic need a fraction of what many modern game budgets command to bring The Forest Project to multiple platforms in early 2015 -- $82,000 (AU$90,000). Other details are scarce, but seeing that the team is in San Francisco for this week's Game Developer's Conference, we may hear more as the show progresses.

Filed under: Gaming, Science, HD

Source: The Forest Project (Pozible)

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drag2share: New Payments Startups Face An Uphill Battle To Disrupt The Credit Card Processing Industry

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/azLAOrda9Jw/credit-card-payments-market-competition-2-2014-1

Payment Card Transaction Breakdown

The credit card industry processes a massive volume of transactions — about $4 trillion this year in the U.S., according to BI Intelligence estimates. With so much money in play, it's no wonder that a host of startups are trying to carve out a niche for themselves and offer services to merchants and consumers that will rewrite the value they get from every credit card payment.

But the credit card processing industry isn't going to change over night. These startups are entering into an extremely complex and entrenched space.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Saturday, March 15, 2014

drag2share: LG Lucid 3 leaks with updated design, no doubts on the carrier

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/15/lg-lucid-3-leaks/

We'll admit, we're getting mixed messages here. According to @evleaks' latest reveal there is very likely a new LG Lucid (number 3 to be specific) incoming for Verizon. Nothing unusual there, as it's been about a year since the last one. But if the images are accurate (and history predicts they will be) LG has taken some design cues from its G-series -- rounded corners, and a curved back etc -- along with a very Samsung-esque physical home key (the last edition had capacitive buttons). Of course, this isn't the first LG phone with such a button, or even to share this design. The new F-series we saw at MWC bears more than a casual resemblance to the pic we see above. There's little else to glean from the image other than the obvious, but expect a mid-range specification (with model number VS876) to hit the Verizon web store in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

Source: @evleaks (Twitter)

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drag2share: Here Are The Google Drive Add-Ons That Will Actually Make Your Life Easier

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/best-add-ons-for-google-drive-2014-3

laptop ball pit working fun office

Google just launched add-ons for Docs and Sheets, meaning that there's now an app store dedicated to tools and features that will help you increase your productivity and do more within your docs.

To browse through all the add-on options, select Get add-ons in the Add-ons menu of any open document or spreadsheet

There isn't a huge selection of extensions yet, but Google lets anyone create their own, so more will definitely start cropping up soon.

Until then, here are our favorites, and the ones you should consider adding right now:

1. Messenger

Google Docs just became even more of a killer collaboration tool. Messenger lets you keep track of changes made in a Doc, while also letting you chat with fellow collaborators. If you want something that works almost exactly like Word's track changes, the same company also makes a version of the add-on without the messaging feature.

2. EasyBib

College kids, rejoice! The greatest site on the Internet for anyone who has to source a paper just got integrated with Google Docs so now it's simpler than ever to make a perfectly formatted bibliography. Using the EasyBib add-on, you can search for sources by title, ISBN, or keywords, and boom: You've got a works-cited entry you can paste right into the end of your document.

3. Merge

Thanks to Merge, you can now design a fancy looking party invitation (or any other kind of message) in Google Docs and seamlessly send it in a personalized email to any contact you have saved in a Google Sheet. You can even use the Reporting tab to see how many people have actually opened your email.

4. PandaDocs

Next time you have an important document that needs to get signed and sent, skip the annoying process of printing and scanning. PandaDoc lets you add legally binding electronic signatures to your Google Docs, so you'll never have to jump through hoops to get something signed again.

Runner up: Maps

Maps is a great concept and would be perfect for anyone who wants to use Docs to create a trip itinerary. However, in the current version, you can't zoom in or out on a map, and if you're mapping on two points, you can see them both, but won't get directions for moving between them.

SEE ALSO: You Can Fix A MacBook By Baking It In An Oven Like A Pie

Join the conversation about this story »

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Friday, March 14, 2014

drag2share: Nokia's Refocus camera app is now available to all Lumia owners on WP8

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/14/nokia-refocus-camera-app-lumia-update/

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Nokia's "shoot now, focus later" photography app, Refocus, required PureView hardware to run, because until now it's only been available on PureView-branded phones. As it turns out though, the app has just been made compatible with all Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8, including ones with down-to-earth camera modules. It works by means of a "focus sweep" -- you hold your phone steady for a couple of seconds while the camera scans the scene ahead at a range of different focal lengths and then combines these into a single dynamic image (like the one below) that lets anyone adjust the focus and background/foreground blur later, after the file has been saved and shared. If you're reading this on a Lumia, the source link below should take you where you need to go.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Nokia

Source: Nokia Conversations

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drag2share: ASUS could drop dual-OS devices following pressure from Google and Microsoft

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/14/asus-transformer-duet-dual-os-google-microsoft/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

One of the more interesting laptops we saw at this year's CES was a split-personality hybrid from ASUS -- the Transformer Book Duet TD300, shown above. According to the Wall Street Journal, however, plans to launch the device during the first half of this year have been shelved due to resistance from both side of OS camp, i.e., Microsoft and Google. The WSJ report tallies with an earlier rumor from DigiTimes, and it also claims that sales of two of ASUS's existing dual-OS products, the the P1801 and P1802 all-in-one PCs, are to be suspended due to Microsoft's "new policy" of not supporting dual-boot systems. On the other hand, none of this really jibes with rumors from the smartphone side of the market, where Microsoft is reportedly willing to try anything in order to boost the popularity of the mobile version of Windows.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

drag2share: Nokia's Refocus camera app is now available to all Lumia owners on WP8

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/14/nokia-refocus-camera-app-lumia-update/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Nokia's "shoot now, focus later" photography app, Refocus, required PureView hardware to run, because until now it's only been available on PureView-branded phones. As it turns out though, the app has just been made compatible with all Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8, including ones with down-to-earth camera modules. It works by means of a "focus sweep" -- you hold your phone steady for a couple of seconds while the camera scans the scene ahead at a range of different focal lengths and then combines these into a single dynamic image (like the one below) that lets anyone adjust the focus and background/foreground blur later, after the file has been saved and shared. If you're reading this on a Lumia, the source link below should take you where you need to go.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

drag2share: Samsung's new phone case uses ultrasound to detect people and objects

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/14/samsung-galaxy-core-advance-usability-accessories/

Samsung's Galaxy S5 may be getting lots of smart new accessories, but the Korean smartphone maker is also making sure its lower-powered phones get some love too. After including various software usability functions in the Galaxy Core Advance at the end of last year, the company today introduced three new accessories that have been designed specifically to help disabled or visually impaired users do more with their Android device. First up is the Optical Scan Stand, a raised bracket that automatically triggers the phone's OCR features to recognize and read aloud text placed in front of the phone. There's also Voice Labels, which are similar to Samsung's NFC-equipped TechTile stickers, but let visually impaired users make voice notes or record short explanations on how to use various devices around the home.

Perhaps the most impressive accessory of the three is Samsung's Ultrasonic Cover: a specialized case that uses sound waves to detect people or objects (in a two-meter radius), helping users navigate new surroundings by sending vibration or spoken alerts. Even without the accessories, the Galaxy Advance Core features a trio of physical buttons on the front and dedicated camera and voice recorder buttons on the side, assisting smartphone owners that don't want to rely solely on on-screen controls.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Source: Samsung Mobile Press

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Thursday, March 13, 2014

drag2share: Barnacle Ships Your Packages Through Regular People to Save You Money

source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/9LtBcckC4Jo/barnacle-ships-your-packages-through-regular-people-to-1541702233

Barnacle Ships Your Packages Through Regular People to Save You Money

Kind of like Lyft, but for your packages, Barnacle hooks you up with people who drive long routes and will accept a little extra cash to deliver your packages on their way. Alternatively, you can deliver packages for others and make some money yourself.

All you do is sign in via your Facebook account and search for people going between you and your package's destination. From there, you offer them a fee of your choosing and they'll accept the job if they want it. How long it'll take your package to arrive at its destination will depend on when these couriers-for-hire are making their trips, but from what I could see it was generally a week or less. Plus, you can track the location of your package at all times through their smartphone apps.

While not an alternative to expedited delivery services, it's a nice way to save money on slower packages—especially larger ones. The service is pretty new so only so many routes are available, but given that there are quite a few. And, should you want to pick up some extra cash you can sign up to drive as well.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

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