Latest Technology

Vaping is a controversial habit: it certainly has its downsides, but anecdotally it’s a fantastic smoking cessation aid. The thing is, until behavioral scientists know a bit more about who does it, when, how much and other details, its use will continue to be something of a mystery. That’s where the PuffPacket comes in. Designed by Cornell engineers, the PuffPacket is a small device that attaches to e-cigarettes (or vape pens, or whatever you call yours) and precisely measures their use, sharing that information with a smartphone app for the user, and potentially researchers, to review later. Some vaping devices are already set up with something like this, to tell a user when the cartridge is running low or a certain limit has been reached. But generally when vaping habits are studied, they rely on self-report data, not proprietary apps. How companies are working around Apple’s ban on vaping apps “The lack of continuous and objective understanding of vaping behaviors led us t

I see far more research articles than I could possibly write up. This column collects the most interesting of those papers and advances, along with notes on why they may prove important in the world of tech and startups. This week: one step closer to self-powered on-skin electronics; people dressed as car seats; how to make a search engine for 3D data; and a trio of Earth imaging projects that take on three different types of disasters. Sweat as biofuel Monitoring vital signs is a crucial part of healthcare and is a big business across fitness, remote medicine and other industries. Unfortunately, powering devices that are low-profile and last a long time requires a bulky battery or frequent charging is a fundamental challenge. Wearables powered by body movement or other bio-derived sources are an area of much research, and this sweat-powered wireless patch is a major advance. A figure from the paper showing the device and interactions happening inside it. The device, described i

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the last decade, reporting growth each quarter even as handset shipments slowed or declined elsewhere globally. But the world’s second largest smartphone is beginning to feel the coronavirus heat, too. The Indian smartphone market grew by a modest 4% year-over-year in the quarter that ended on March 31, research firm Counterpoint said Friday evening. The shipment grew annually in January and February, when several firms launched their smartphones and unveiled aggressive promotional plans. But in March, the shipment saw a 19% year-over-year dip, the firm said. Counterpoint estimated that the smartphone shipments in India will decline by 10% this year, compared to a 8.9% growth in 2019 and 10% growth in 2018. The research firm also cautioned that India’s lockdown, ordered last month, has severely slowed down the local smartphone industry and it may take seven to eight months to get back on track. Currently, only s

A team of researchers from Apple and Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute have presented a system for embedded AIs to learn by listening to noises in their environment without the need for up-front training data or without placing a huge burden on the user to supervise the learning process. The overarching goal is for smart devices to more easily build up contextual/situational awareness to increase their utility. The system, which they’ve called Listen Learner , relies on acoustic activity recognition to enable a smart device, such as a microphone-equipped speaker, to interpret events taking place in its environment via a process of self-supervised learning with manual labelling done by one-shot user interactions — such as by the speaker asking a person ‘what was that sound?’, after it’s heard the noise enough time to classify in into a cluster. A general pre-trained model can also be looped in to enable the system to make an initial guess on what an

Apple’s long-rumored Mac ARM chip transition could happen as early as next year, according to a new report from Bloomberg . The report says that Apple is currently working on three Mac processors based on the design of the A14 system-on-a-chip that will power the next-generation iPhone. The first of the Mac versions will greatly exceed the speed of the iPhone and iPad processors, according to the report’s sources. Already, Apple’s A-series line of ARM-based chips for iPhones and iPads have been steadily improving, to the point where their performance in benchmark tests regularly exceeds that of Intel processors used currently in Apple’s Mac line. As a result, and because Intel’s chip development has encountered a few setbacks and slowdowns in recent generations, rumors that Apple would move to using its own ARM-based designs have multiplied over the past few years. Bloomberg says that “at least one Mac” powered by Apple’s own chip is being prepared for release in 2021, to be built

Samsung Electronics announced today that its blood pressure monitoring app for Galaxy Watches has been approved by South Korean regulators. Called the Samsung Health Monitor, the app will be available for the Galaxy Watch Active2 during the third quarter, at least in South Korea, and added to upcoming Galaxy Watch devices. TechCrunch has contacted Samsung for more information on when the app, which uses the Galaxy Watch Active2’s advanced sensor technology, will be available in other markets. It was cleared by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for use as an over-the-counter, cuffless blood pressure monitoring app. The app first has to be calibrated with a traditional blood pressure cuff, then it monitors blood pressure through pulse wave analysis. Users need to recalibrate the app at least once every four weeks. According to a recent report by IDC , in the last quarter of 2019, Samsung wearables ranked third in terms of shipments, behind Apple and Xiaomi, with volume

VanMoof is releasing a new generation of its electric bike. In many ways, the VanMoof S3 and its smaller version the VanMoof X3 are refined versions of the VanMoof Electrified S2 and X2. It features an updated motor, hydraulic brakes and a familiar design. If you’re not familiar with VanMoof bikes, the company has been building electric bikes with some smart features, such as an anti-theft system. There’s an integrated motion detector combined with an alarm, a GPS chip and cellular connectivity. If you declare your bike as stolen, the GPS and cellular chips go live and you can track your bike in the VanMoof app. The company wants to control as much of the experience as possible, which means that it designs the bike in house, sells it on its website and in its own stores. 80% of orders happen on the website and VanMoof now has nine stores around the world. The company has sold 120,000 bikes over the years. The S3 and X3 still feature the iconic triangular-shaped futuristic-looking

A lot of startups have answered the call for more personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essentials to support healthcare workers in their efforts to curb the spread and impact of COVID-19. One of those is direct-to-consumer 3D-printed eyewear brand Fitz , which is employing its custom-fit glasses technology to build protective, prescription specs to frontline healthcare workers in need of the best protection they can get. Fitz Protect is a version of Fitz’s eyesore that uses the same custom measurement tool Fitz created for use via its iOS app, made possible by Apple’s depth-sensing Face ID camera on newer iPhones and all iPad Pro models. The app allows virtual try-on, and provides millimeter-level accurate measurements for a custom fit. Protect is a version of the glasses that still supports a wide range of prescriptions, but that also extends further like safety glasses to provide more coverage and guard against errant entry of any fluids through the eyes. Health care profe

Apple, in a Virtual Unveiling, Introduces a $399 iPhone The new iPhone SE has the design of an older generation of iPhones, with the same computing power as newer ones. The iPhone SE has the design of an older generation of iPhones, with the same computing power as newer ones. Credit... Apple SAN FRANCISCO — In some ways, there couldn’t be a worse time than  a pandemic  to introduce a new gadget. But Apple unveiled its latest iPhone on Wednesday anyway, seizing on a time when many of us are sheltering indoors and  glued to our devices . The new iPhone SE arrives with a lower price: At $399, it costs about 40 percent less than the regular $699 iPhone. The device has the design of an older generation of iPhones, with the same computing power as newer ones. That means the SE looks like an iPhone from 2014, with a smaller screen and a home button instead of a face scanner, but is as fast as the fancier iPhone 11  from  2019. Apple typically holds splashy events to introduce

                         OnePlus 8 Pro                                                                                                         OnePlus 8 Pro Specifications Expected Launch Date: June 19,2020 Performance :Snapdragon 865         Storage :128 GB Camera :48+48+8+5 MP Battery :4510 mAH Critic Rating :NA User Rating :5/5 OnePlus 8 Pro vs OnePlus 8: Price Both OnePlus 8 series models and all variants will be available to purchase across all global markets where OnePlus is available, including North America, Asia, and Europe. In India, the  OnePlus 8  is priced at $699 (roughly Rs. 53,200) for the variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, going up to $799 (roughly Rs. 60,800) for the variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The  OnePlus 8 Pro  will be priced higher, starting at $899 (roughly Rs. 68,400) for the variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, going up to $999 (roughly Rs. 76,000) for the higher variant that comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB stor