The IoT user interface designs: Thinking beyond the screen
/Check out five examples of IoT user interfaces in which manufacturers have moved beyond the typical screen to a more revolutionary UI approach.
Read More
The Subtle Ways Your Digital Assistant Might Manipulate You
/TODAY WE GOOGLE for information, but in the future, we might not need to. Instead we may rely on our butler, namely the intelligent, voice-activated digital assistant on our smart phones, smart watches, or devices like Amazon’s Echo and Alphabet’s Home. Rather than searching the web, we’ll be able to ask our digital assistant how to remove the stain from our shirt. It’ll perform other perfunctory tasks, like adding groceries to our shopping list, checking the weather, sending a text, or ordering an Uber.
Read MoreThe Wonderful World of Wearables – The Latest Wearable Technology
/When most people think about wearable technology, Fitbits and Apple Watches come to mind. While these are devices have been game-changers, the world of wearable technology is so much larger - and it’s getting bigger every day.
Read MoreAnother Risky 'BP Monitor' App - Puts patients at risk with claims to measure multiple cardiovascular parameters
/Over the past few years, we've covered a number of health apps that we believed put patients at risk through dubious claims about what they can measure or treat. In 2014, we detailed an app called Instant Blood Pressure, which claimed to measure blood pressure just by having users put the microphone over their chest and finger over the camera. About a year after our initial article, it was pulled first from the Google Play app store then the iTunes app store. And earlier this year, a study conducted by some of my colleagues at Johns Hopkins showed Instant Blood Pressure to be highly inaccurate and detailed how those inaccuracies could put patients at risk. Given the attention that study got in the lay press as well as Apple's moves to scale up their healthcare expertise, I assumed that the review of health apps, particularly those that claim to measure or treat something, would be tightened up.
Read MoreAmazon’s Alexa aims to be a bank teller, insurance agent, too
/Alexa has started talking finance — and banks, insurance companies, and investment firms are all listening.
Read MoreFrom The Designers Of Fitbit, A Digital Tattoo Implanted Under Your Skin
/From the Jawbone Up to the Apple Watch, wrist-based designs have become the de facto form factor for wearable technology. But we’re already wrist-banded out. So what’s next?
Read MoreCMS Final Rules Cover the Cost of Bone-Anchored Hearing Devices
/The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that codifies the Medicare policy guidance when a device is not subject to the hearing aid exclusion. The rule finalizes that certain auditory implants, including cochlear implants, brain stem implants, and osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implants, do not meet the definition of hearing aids that are excluded from coverage.
Read MorePharmacies Are Awful—But These Startups Could Fix Them
/So, you need to pick up a prescription. During lunch or after work you’ll go to the nearest pharmacy, where you’ll stand in line at a counter. The pharmacist will ask you to wait 20 minutes, so you’ll contemplate a new shampoo or flip through magazines. Maybe you’ll leave with your pills, but maybe the pharmacy won’t have your meds in stock.
Read MoreHow the Apple Watch wants to be the first fitness tracker for people in wheelchairs
/It’s nearly impossible to count all of the fitness trackers on the market; there are ones tailored for hard-core runners, stylish designs pegged for women, even ones that alert you when you've been in the sun for too long. But there’s never quite been one developed specifically for those in manual wheelchairs before.
Read MoreHow tech companies are making their apps more accessible to the disabled
/Last football season, Yahoo's Darren Burton did something he'd never done before: He commissioned a fantasy football league. That may not sound like a particularly impressive feat to you, but for Burton, navigating lists of players, stats, and scores is a unique challenge, because he is blind.
Read MorePress Amazon’s IRL Button to Call a Cab, Brew Coffee, or Whatever
/The real world just got a little more push-button.
Read MoreGoogle Home Is Cool, But Catching Up to Amazon Echo Won’t Be Easy
/Google Home makes one heck of a first impression: An adorable little Bluetooth speaker, with a hyper-advanced personal assistant that promises to do things Amazon’s Echo can’t even dream of. You can even choose the color.
Read MoreThe Best Cortana Tricks to Take Control of Your Computer
/Oh dear—not still clicking around with a mouse and keyboard are you? What is this, early 2015? Cortana comes baked into Windows 10 now, so you can shout out commands and control your laptop or desktop using your voice instead. Here are some of the neat ways you can make use of it.
Read MoreWhat the Next Generation of Wearables Will Look Like (Hint: You May Not Even Know They’re There)
/Ask the average person what a wearable technology is and they’ll say a fitness tracker. They’ll describe it as a hard plastic bracelet, watch or clip-on gadget that logs things like heart rate and level of activity. While these early wearables have been hugely popular and a big leap forward, they have also had an extraordinarily high abandonment rate. Some 50 percent of users stop wearing them within six months.
Read More