Apple iPhone 7 to pack-in noise cancelling tech, support wireless charging!

While the launch of the iPhone 7 is months away in September, the rumours for the same have already begun to seep out. Last we heard (or have been hearing) that Apple has plans to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack to make the smartphone slimmer. But now another report from FastCompany not only confirms those previous rumours, but also adds some more details to them as well.

And these are some interesting details indeed with some facts and insights to back them up. According to its source, Apple will be building a slimmer iPhone 7 and will cull the 3.5mm jack to achieve the same. But there’s more on that.

The source confirmed that the Lightning port on the iPhone will be hot-wired for sound output to wired headphones. Bluetooth headphones will also be an option. Apple is reportedly working with its long-term audio chip partner Cirrus Logic to achieve the above. Also, the audio system will utilise a new noise-canceling technology from Wolfston Microelectronics UK. The same will be partially installed in the iPhone, while the remainder will work from the headphones (EarPods). Also Apple (as always) will be minting some money by licensing the audio processing technology to accessory makers.

For those of you who are unaware, Sony already utilises something like this and introduced the same with Xperia Z3+ back in 2015 at the MWC Barcelona.

And then we have something similar to Sony that follows – waterproofing. Yes the website’s source also confirmed that the upcoming Apple iPhone 7 will indeed be waterproof. And along with that we also have wireless charging a new feature (similar to inductive charging on the Apple Watch) that will make an entry into Apple’s mobile devices lineup.

Indeed, it again seems that Apple is simply playing catch up. But the source also says that wireless charging and waterproof capabilities have been added in development cycle at a later stage. Apple seems to be under pressure to add the above mentioned features in order to tempt buyers to upgrade to newer iPhone models, which also means that it is expecting the competition to heat up in year ahead.

Control Which External Sound You Want To Hear From This Headphone!

Headphones are great for listening to music, but also mean that you can't hear what's going on around you. New technology from Harman, however, could change this. Its Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) allows users to hear specific external sounds, such as your name being called.

The concept is similar to that employed by the SoundBrake device, which mutes headphones when it detects external noises. Unlike the SoundBrake, though, AAR will be built into the headphones themselves and can allow users to be selective about what external sounds they hear.

In order achieve this, Harman's Active Listening technology is first used to identify specific sounds, such as a cycle bell or a train announcement tone. In the event that the external sound has been specified as one that the user should hear, music volume is turned down and the sound is relayed through the headphones. Other external noises, however, are blocked out, allowing the user to listen to their music and only be alerted to other specified noises.

Harman is debuting its new AAR technology in two pairs of prototype headphones at CES. The AKG N60 headphones are designed to lower the volume of what is being listened to when the wearer's name is called, making them well suited for use in an office. The JBL Everest headphones, meanwhile, have an accompanying app which allows users to specify up to 10 trigger sounds that will be relayed to the listener.

Harman says it is planning to run an Indiegogo campaign to evaluate the market potential for the new technology, which it says is about 1-2 years away from being launched in a product.

Source: Harman

Now Have An Air-Purifying Filter Made From Peanut Shells!

There are a lot of peanuts grown in Mexico. Needless to say, the processing of them results in a lot of discarded peanut shells, which are generally considered to be a worthless byproduct. That could be about to change, however. Led by biotech expert Raul Pineda Olmedo, a team from the National University of Mexico and the Research Center of Advanced Studies has developed an air-purifying filter that utilizes the shells.

More specifically, the biofilter actually relies on microorganisms such as Fusarium fungi and Brevibacterium bacteria, which typically grow in peanut shells. These microbes take toxic compounds such as those commonly found in solvents, and convert them to carbon dioxide and water.

It takes approximately 28 days for an effective amount of the organisms to colonize one of the filters.

Microscopic image of a Peanut Shell

Additionally, the shells' hollow structure maximizes their surface area, allowing for more contact with the air. Like other filtration materials, they do also trap airborne particles such as those that make up dust and smoke.

So far, a kitchen range hood-like prototype has been created, although it is hoped that the technology could be applied to a wide variety of air filters. The university is working on commercializing the innovation.

Peanut shells, incidentally, may also find use in the making of natural dyes.

Vivy brings the deep heat pain-killer wearables!

If you don't know what diathermy is, you're not the only one. It's actually been around since 1907, and involves using high-frequency electromagnetic currents to generate heat in body tissue, accelerating the healing of injuries in the process. While it's previously been limited to clinical settings, ReGear Life Sciences' wearable Vivy device is designed to let people deliver their own treatments, wherever they happen to be.

Announced at CES, Vivy takes the form of a belt that contains a rechargeable battery, a control module, and induction coils that create the heat. By contrast, traditional diathermy machines are relatively large, and must be operated by trained clinicians.

Users wrap Vivy around the injured body part, power it up, then use its button controls to set the duration of the session. From there it goes to work delivering a deep-heat treatment, letting the user know when it's finished. There's also a companion smartphone app, on which users can create a treatment schedule, track the results of their sessions, and access other information.

While diathermy is currently used in applications ranging from physiotherapy to surgery, ReGear appears to be aiming Vivy mainly at people who suffer from chronic pain – this could include individuals with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia or muscle/joint injuries. It is currently classed as an investigational device, and is not yet for sale.

That said, the company is planning to raise productions funds through a crowdfunding campaign, beginning next month. Interested parties can check in to see when it begins, via the link below. Pricing has yet to be determined, although a rep tells us that it will be available in different lengths, each one intended for use on specific body parts such as the back or knee.

Source:Vivy

INTEL'S REAL SENSE CAMERA IS HERE!

Intel’s RealSense is actually a family of different products: there’s the RealSense “Snapshot,” a camera mounted into tablets like the Dell Venue Pro 8000, which can be used for real-world distance measuring. And then there’s the RealSense 3D Camera (Rear R200) a rear-mounted 3D camera that looks purpose-built for a Surface or similar tablet. But that isn’t available yet, Intel says.

RealSense is Intel’s “eye” into the world, a depth camera much like the Kinect camera that was designed for (and rejected by buyers of) the Microsoft Xbox One. It not only includes a video camera, but an infrared projector and laser to better intuit the real world. At the Game Developers Conference, CES, and the like, Intel has showed off a number of applications that take advantage of the RealSense cameras, from “scanning” your face onto a 3D avatar, to games that take advantage of gestures made with your hands. They can either be discrete cameras, or built into laptops and tablets.

But like the Kinect for Windows, this is very early in the game. The hardware might be mature, but the apps are few, far between, and in some cases not fully formed.

Intel provided PCWorld with the original RealSense 3D camera, also known as the Front F200, which carries the label from its designer, Creative Labs. (Remember them?) It flops over the top of your monitor or laptop, using a stiff hinge to balance and secure it. A USB cable snakes out the back to your PC. It normally costs about $100.

To really take advantage of all the intelligence built into the RealSense camera, however, you’ll need to download a rather sizeable software development kit, totaling 1.3GB. But that SDK contains all the files you’ll need for everything from gesture control to speech recognition. (You’ll need to download the camera drivers separately, all from the Intel RealSense page.)

Intel also provided alpha codes to NeverMind, a fascinating psychological horror concept game from Flying Mollusk that taps into the camera’s ability to “read” your pulse by examining your face with the infrared camera. Like Inception or The Cell, NeverMind puts you in the shoes of a therapist injected into the mind of the patient, where you root out buried traumas represented by photographs.

There’s one catch: the RealSense camera can read your fear, and the game ramps upthe difficulty the more scared or anxious you become: increasing the frequency of spikes, for example, or overlaying “static” on your field of view, making it more difficult to see. The idea is for you to learn how to manage stress, both in the game and the real world.

The concept is an interesting one, playing off of a thesis authored by the game’s creative director, Erin Reynolds. Producer Michael Annetta explained that the original concept called for using a chest strap to track the user’s heart rate, but the RealSense camera was far less intrusive.

A Never Mind Puzzle You Must Solve To Proceed

In my brief playthrough, I found the game concept fascinating enough, although the RealSense camera seemed to hold the experience back. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous, and my “viewscreen” was quickly filled with static. I settled down quickly—after all, the tutorial level began in bucolic, peaceful countryside—but the static never went away until I restarted the game. I suspect that either the game didn’t poll the camera often enough, or else the camera couldn’t easily detect changes in my pulse. (Note that RealSense camera is designed to “read” you from 20 cm to 200 cm, or 7 inches to 47 inches away.) Restarting the game seemed to solve the problem.

That’s not to say that those are the only apps available for the RealSense camera right now; Intel’s Perceptual Computing Challenge has helped commission games like Head of the Order, for example, where users can “cast spells” by drawing glyphs onto the screen. Intel also has a dedicated RealSense site where users can download a small number of games and other apps.

The reason that this is important, however, is that Intel hopes to make the RealSense technology ubiquitous, replacing the common Webcams found in notebooks with its own, more sophisticated cameras.

One can imagine a world where Cheetos-munching users navigate by waving their hands through space, rather than pawing a keyboard or the display itself. But as interesting as the NeverMind concept is, Intel needs to do two things: attract mainstream app support, such as a browser or productivity app, and offer a showcase or app store where users can try them out.

I certainly don’t want to imply that Intel’s RealSense is dead or not worthwhile—not by any means. Intel did us the courtesy of providing us hardware that few actually have. But Intel clearly wanted journalists to walk away thinking that developers need to get on board and support the platform. We’ll agree. If RealSense is going to become mainstream, we need some mainstream uses for it.

-Mark Hachman

DETERMINATION!

    

       Determination- the word, the wise and the fool speak of. What is it? Why is it, important? Oh we have heard loads of stories and lectures upon it.

**How to be determined, enough?** is the main point, which we' re not taught or seldomly taught of.

May be, an indication that enough is a superficial word. You will never have **enough**. But determination needs this companion "enough"

    And as I speak of determination- I am not talking of stubbornness.  Because stubbornness is blind... never need "enough" All it needs is ego.

Now not going off the track. Let' s find out HOW TO BE DETERMINED, ENOUGH?
First, be ensure of what' re you determined of. Analysing the consequences of it,  will make it easy. Because if you turned off your eyes towards the results.. you're basically going in the direction of stubbornness.

    And believe me, the blindness towards the results will not lead to anywhere.

Clearing in mind what you want to do is good and won't let anybody suffer. Proceed further.

Next thing you need to do is jot it down, in form of letter. Your memory can fail you. But the words in your writing won't let you forget the reason why you started.

And just go for it.

      I know there will be times when you' ll seek the exit. That time read the letter, you wrote. And you will find the doors-  opening to give a direction.

The last but not the least, you should keep in mind is believing in yourself that you took the correct path... the correct decision. Afterall, it was your mind who took it. Keeping positivity is a must.

And believe me- IT WOULD BE ENOUGH!

-Ankita upadhyay

No Cell Signal? This Can Help When You Wander Off-Grid!

A new accessory for phones with no reception might be a life-saver, or at least a link back to civilization. The GoTenna establishes a direct radio connection to other GoTennas up to 4 miles away, so you can send text messages and even share your location with family or friends. Sold in $200 pairs, the device is less clumsy than walkie-talkies, less pricey than satellite phones.

I tested a pair around San Francisco and in some wilder stretches of California. I found GoTenna’s radio tech has some serious range limitations over rocky or urban terrains. Inside the dense, hilly City by the Bay, it was only able to beam a message only over half a mile. But along a relatively flat stretch of beach it eked out a signal across 3 miles.

Still, the GoTenna is a worthwhile tool for people who go off the grid but don’t want to totally disconnect, including campers, skiers, hunters, emergency preppers and cruise-ship voyagers. I’d use one to keep my brood in contact on our next overseas adventure, if only to avoid international roaming charges.

Don’t think of the GoTenna as a fix for patchy cell service. If calls drop a lot where you live or work, you’ve got options, including Wi-Fi calling or installing a mini cell tower.

I also tried a new range-extending iPhone case called the Reach Case R79X, from Antenna79, sold by Best Buy and AT&T. My experience was mixed: In some countryside areas it strengthened a weak signal by as much as two times. But it didn’t do so consistently in different locations. Nor did it pick up signal in areas where the phone alone couldn’t find one. The $60 R79X is worth trying—and returning to the store if it doesn’t help.

The GoTenna is designed for situations where there’s no signal at all. It was born after superstorm Sandy, the 2012 storm that knocked out cell service in parts of New York and New Jersey. In the aftermath, company co-founder Daniela Perdomo, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based tech entrepreneur originally from São Paulo, wondered if there might be a way to let people still use their smartphones without being susceptible to infrastructure failure. The GoTenna began shipping in October.

ENLARGE

Like its name suggests, the GoTenna is a radio antenna. Just about 6 inches long, it’s small and light enough to clip onto a backpack or jacket—but noticeable enough that people stopped me to ask what it was. It connects via Bluetooth to an Apple or Android phone, where the GoTenna app can send and receive data through the antenna when it’s extended to 8 inches. The rechargeable battery lasts about 24 hours, or long enough to send 700 messages.

The GoTenna operates on some the lowest frequencies (151 to 154 MHz) available without a radio license. Those frequencies allow digital signals to travel longer distances. But due to limited bandwidth, GoTenna’s technology doesn’t send voice or photos. It only sends text messages and GPS coordinates—sufficient both for telling a buddy you’ve found the perfect campsite…or flagging a helicopter to come get you off that godforsaken mountain.