fitness – Page 10 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Apple will (eventually) let you remove some of its iOS apps

Apple’s iOS devices have long included apps that you’re unlikely to use (do you really need a stock tracker?), and that list only seems to be getting longer . That’s potentially a big problem, especially when the company is still shipping 16GB flagship iPhones where every megabyte counts. However, there might be some relief in sight. In a chat with BuzzFeed News , CEO Tim Cook says that his company will eventually “figure out a way” for you to remove some of those apps. You won’t get to yank all of them (that “might cause issues” with some device features, Cook says), but this could spare you from creating a folder for the bundled apps that would otherwise gather virtual dust. There’s no timetable for when this will happen, so don’t be surprised if you end up waiting a while to clean up your home screens. However, the very mention of the idea represents a shift in Apple’s stance toward bundled apps. Cook wants you “to be happy” with your gear, not to “suck up your real estate.” To him, it’s better to let you purge some software than to risk losing a customer. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: BuzzFeed News Tags: app, apple, apps, bloatware, ios, ipad, iphone, mobilepostcross, smartphone, tablet, timcook

Honda will test self-driving cars on California streets

Honda just took a big step toward getting its self-driving car technology on to American roads. The automaker has quietly received the approval needed to test its autonomous cars on California streets, letting these robotic rides venture beyond a closed-off facility in Concord. The company is relatively late to the party — Audi, Lexus and other brands have had the state’s A-OK for a while. Still, we’re not going to knock Honda when this will eventually lead to more variety in hands-off vehicles. Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Reuters , Ars Technica Source: California DMV Tags: acura, autonomous, california, car, honda, self-driving, self-drivingcar, transportation, vehicle

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Honda will test self-driving cars on California streets

Google Fiber considering Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego for expansion

Google has announced that it is considering rolling out its high-speed Fiber internet service to three additional American cities . The company stated on its Fiber blog on Thursday that it hopes to enter a joint planning process with the cities of Irvine, California; Louisville, Kentucky; and San Diego, California. “We’ll work with Irvine, Louisville and San Diego to conduct a detailed study of factors that affect construction, ” wrote Jill Szuchmacher, Director, Google Fiber Expansion, “such as local topography, housing density, and the condition of existing infrastructure.” This isn’t a guarantee that the cities will actually receive the service (just as Portland, San Jose and Phoenix are still in the planning stages), only that Google is considering expansion into those regions. With each city offering unique benefits and challenges, there is no set timetable for any of them moving forward. [Image Credit: Lede – Bloomberg via Getty Images, inline – Google Fiber] Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Source: Google Fiber Tags: fiber, FiberOptic, gigabit, google, Google Fiber, Irvine, California, Louisville, Kentucky, San Diego, San Jose, California

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Google Fiber considering Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego for expansion

3D-printable files of TSA master baggage keys are out for download

If you never trusted your luggage lock much to begin with, then you’re going to warily look at it in suspicion from now on. Some security enthusiasts took that photo of TSA’s master baggage keys that The Washington Post published and turned them into 3D-printable CAD files — in fact, they’ve recently uploaded them on GitHub , making them freely available to everyone. The person who released the files told Wired that while he tried to be as accurate as he could, he didn’t exactly expect the keys to work. Thing is, at least one of them did work: Bernard Bolduc, who describes himself as a “Unix wizard and security geek” on Twitter printed out a key and tried it on his TSA-approved lock. The result? He told Wired it took him one try to open the lock even though the key was made of common PLA plastic using commercially available printer. He didn’t even have to tweak the design in any way. We can assume that the rest of the files can be used to print out keys that can open other types of locks that the TSA uses to check baggage at airports. Sure luggage locks were never really lockpick-proof, but it’s still unfortunate how the agency made it even easier for thieves to open travelers’ suitcases. OMG, it’s actually working!!! pic.twitter.com/rotJPJqjTg — Bernard Bolduc (@bernard) September 9, 2015 [Image credit: Getty/Zoonar RF] Filed under: Misc Comments Source: GitHub Tags: 3dprint, security, tsa

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3D-printable files of TSA master baggage keys are out for download

BlueCross BlueShield hack may have exposed data for 10 million customers

Another week, another major institution falls victim to hackers. This time, it’s New York-based heathcare provider Excellus BlueCross BlueShield : the company says that more than 10 million personal records of its customers were exposed to hackers in an attack it discovered this past August. The company discovered the attack early in the month, but after doing more investigation it turned out that it actually took place way back in December of 2013. The investigation showed that the hackers could have accessed personal information including “name, date of birth, Social Security number, mailing address, telephone number, member identification number, financial account information and [insurance] claims information.” While all of this information could have been exposed to hackers, the company isn’t sure exactly what may have been revealed. The investigation thus far hasn’t shown any evidence of what data was stolen and whether it was used in any nefarious way, but Excellus is still offering its customers the now-commonplace two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Unfortunately, hacks against healthcare providers are hardly a rarity at this point. An attack on Premera , another arm of BlueCross, was revealed in March of this year, putting the data of 11 million customers at risk. And just a month earlier, Anthem was hacked — the database accessed in that breach contained the info of a whopping 80 million customers, though only a portion of those were believed to have been accessed. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Comments Source: Excellus BlueCross BlueShield , Democrat & Chronicle Tags: BlueCrossBlueShield, hack, healthcare

Apple’s OS X El Capitan launches on September 30th

Apple’s latest desktop OS upgrade, dubbed ” El Capitan , ” is scheduled to launch on September 30th, Apple announced today. El Capitan is like an update within an update: It’s named after a landmark inside of Yosemite (the name of the previous OS version) and it features a series of minor, yet useful, tweaks. El Capitan offers a new split-screen view, changes to email and app management, drag-and-drop options for Notes, and updates to Safari and Maps, among other improvements. We got our hands on the developer build back in June and concluded it was a nice upgrade, if not revolutionary: “There simply is no killer feature this time around. But as minor as some of them may seem, they’re all at the very least nice to have, and in many cases genuinely useful.” Apple teased the El Capitan release date yesterday with a sneaky little screenshot during its iPad Pro event : Filed under: Misc , Software , Apple Comments Source: Apple Tags: apple, ElCapitan, iphone2015, OSX, osxelcapitan

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Apple’s OS X El Capitan launches on September 30th

Jawbone’s fitness trackers will track more of your fitness

“Basically, we’re fixing all of the things that people hate, ” is how one Jawbone rep here at IFA 2015 describes this mid-lifecycle update to Jawbone’s range of wrist-worn fitness trackers. When we reviewed the Up3 earlier this year, we described it as a feature-packed disappointment, since while the wearable had potential to be useful, the execution was bungled. That’s why the company has spent the last few months working on a firmware upgrade that, it’s hoped, will make the device much more attractive to new customers. Slideshow-317496 One of the biggest annoyances that we had with the Up3 is that the device only took your resting heart rate when you woke up. The company had originally said that the single daily measurement was the best indication of your heart’s health, but it’s not as useful as continuous or regular tracking. With this new firmware update, the Up3 and Up4, the mobile-payments variant of the Up3 , will now take your passive heart rate during the day. The idea is that whenever you sit down, it’ll see how your heart is holding up every 20 minutes or so. If you’re worried that all of this extra effort will send you racing to the recharge socket, don’t stress — we’re told that the change will have no detrimental effect on battery life. In addition, if you’re rocking an Up2 or an Up3/4, you’ll no longer have to touch the device’s cap (the solid plastic panel) to enter and leave sleep tracking mode. The company believes that now the gear will be able to detect all of that automatically within seconds of you hitting the hay. The only thing that you’ll have to do with the cap now is to tap it to dismiss alarm clock and inactivity alerts. The company has also addressed complaints over the Up2’s strap, which now comes in a rope-style design rather than the full band that was previously available. Meanwhile, the Up3 now comes in new colors like Sand Twist (beige, but the company is saying it’s closer to champagne gold) and Teal. As before, the Up3 is priced at $179.99, while the Up2 with its new lightweight band remains $99.99 and both, as of right now, are available to pre-order from Jawbone’s online store. Check out all the news from Berlin at our IFA 2015 hub . Filed under: Wearables Comments Source: Jawbone Tags: 2015, Fitness, IFA, IFA2015, Jawbone, SleepTracking, Up2, Up3

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Jawbone’s fitness trackers will track more of your fitness

Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

If you find yourself in need of 24-hour access to ad-free music streaming , Pandora now offers an option with its new One Day Pass. For 99 cents, you’ll gain access for the Pandora you know and love without all of the distracting advertisements the free tier includes. This means that for under a dollar, you can switch over to the one-day option for times ( dinner parties , etc.) when you’d rather not have tunes interrupted by the occasional marketing pitch. Pandora’s One Day Pass will be available for listeners in the US Thursday, September 10th through the streaming service’s Android and iOS apps . Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments Source: Pandora Tags: audio, internet, internetradio, mobilepostcross, music, musicstreaming, onedaypass, pandora, software

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Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

AT&T offers a plug-in WiFi hotspot for your car

Your existing car probably doesn’t have a built-in WiFi hotspot , but AT&T will soon have a way to add one and deliver that sweet, on-demand internet access. The carrier is launching the ZTE Mobley, a WiFi hotspot that plugs into your car’s OBD-II port and shares an LTE data link with everyone inside. Yes, you could just tether your phone, but AT&T is counting on simplicity to reel you in — the hotspot goes live shortly after you turn your car on, and you don’t have to worry about battery life. It won’t cost you much to give this concept a shot, at least. The Mobley will be available for ‘free’ on a 2-year contract, or $100 outright. The biggest expense is the data itself, which will cost you $20-plus for stand-alone service or $10 if you add the Mobley to a shared plan. Filed under: Transportation , Wireless , Networking , Mobile , AT&T Comments Source: AT&T Tags: att, car, hotspot, mobilepostcross, mobley, obd-ii, router, transportation, wifi, wireless, zte

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AT&T offers a plug-in WiFi hotspot for your car

Robotic exoskeleton and zaps of electricity helped man walk again

It’s not the first time Mark Pollock tested Ekso Bionics’ exoskeleton , but he can now move more naturally, as you can see in the video below the fold. That’s because Pollock, who’s been paralyzed from the waist down since 2010, gained back some control of and feelings in his legs, thanks to a process known as “transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation.” A team of UCLA scientists attached electrodes on his skin and stimulated his spine with jolts of electricity . After the process, Pollock’s legs tingled when exercising, regained enough voluntary control — he can raise them and flex his knees now — and even started sweating, which hasn’t happened since his accident. As a result, his legs and the battery-operated exoskeleton now work in tandem to give him a more natural gait. While he might never be able to walk unassisted, the result of his five-day training in UCLA sounds promising: he successfully walked thousands of steps. According to one of the researchers, Reggie Edgerton, restoring at least some of paraplegics’/quadriplegics’ ability to move on their own is essential despite advances in exoskeleton technologies, as it “will greatly improve their overall health and quality of life.” Filed under: Robots , Science Comments Source: The Washington Post , NIH , UCLA , IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Tags: exoskeleton, medical, medicine

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Robotic exoskeleton and zaps of electricity helped man walk again