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- Apple Smart Earbuds Detect Head Gestures, Act as a Pedometer
- Epson’s Glasses Try to Conquer Middle Ground
- US Senate Bill Could Make Smartphone Kill Switch Mandatory
- How to Download Flappy Bird
- Albert Ransom Vs. King.com: The Dark Side Of The Candy Saga
| Apple Smart Earbuds Detect Head Gestures, Act as a Pedometer Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST  Apparently, Apple wants to launch a new type of accessory for its mobile products: earbuds that track the number of steps you make and that can detect your head gestures. At least that’s what one of the Apple’s patent applications suggests. Such an accessory would not only count the steps made while walking, but it would also collect biometric data that could be used for assessing someone’s physical performance and health status. The Cupertino tech company seems to take a lot of interest in health-related gadgets, as the latest rumors also suggest that the iWatch will have biometric sensors.
Christopher Prest and Quin Hoellwarth, the inventors of this concept, described these smart buds as pertaining “to a monitoring system that can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user. According to one embodiment, the monitoring system can be used with a hearing device, headphones, earbuds or headsets. The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate.” The number of steps could be easily tracked instead using the iPhone or iPod Touch to which these smart earbuds will most probably be connected. However, it’s the biometric data that is collected that makes this concept shine. Speaking of compatible products, the smart earbuds would make an even better companion for iPod Shuffle, since on that one people can’t run any apps, so there wouldn’t be any redundancies. According to Apple, there are two implementation methods for the biometric data collecting sensor. It could either be integrated in a par of earbuds, as the above design suggests, or it could be part of a device that attaches to an existing pair of earbuds. The sensors included in this concept, namely one or several accelerometers, pedometer, GPS and biometric sensors, are rather common in smartphones, but integrating them in a pair of earbuds would mean a step forward for wearable tech. The most intriguing part about Apple’s newly published patent application is the ability of these smart earbuds to track head gestures. Of course, the sensor detecting these gestures would have to be very sensitive, or otherwise people using these on the street would look rather odd wobbling their heads again and again. Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the earbud alarm clock and the Split standalone portable music player. |
| Epson’s Glasses Try to Conquer Middle Ground Posted: 18 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST  Not everyone is stoked about Google Glass and many that are still frown at the price. Epson may have a cheaper alternative for those that are still interested.
The Epson Moverio BT-200 is comprised of a set of a set of glasses connected to a smartphone sized touch pad. The two serve as a full Android system, just with a separated touch screen, whereas Google Glass is a single unit running a minimal version of Android. This difference marks a very distinct and separate use case for each device. Google Glass is intended to function almost solely in the background with just a tiny screen in the users' peripheral for notifications and minimal visualization. Google Glass is not designed to be your primary focus when you are using it, while the Epson Movorio is something that is intended to be the front and center of your attention. The use case intended by Epson isn't clear, since the places it would be acceptable (or safe) to use such a device are all places where it is safe and acceptable to use a laptop or tablet. The Movorio does have a big upside when it comes to portability, though. It might actually be more accurate to compare it to the Oculus Rift than Google Glass since it represents a nearly full field of view and uses an accelerometer and motion sensors to aid in navigation, but the Movorio does occupy an awkward space between both devices that might be considered the lowest common denominator than the best of both worlds. Until wearables are a more common part of our gadget repertoire, we can expect to see quite a few variants as the technology fights to find its niche. The Epson Movorio BT-200 isn't the first and it won't be the last, but as we saw with MP3 players and smartphones, eventually they'll get it just right. Source: Wired Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter Read more on Walyou, New Samsung Deal May Rock Blackberry's Boat, We May See an HTC Smartwatch This Year |
| US Senate Bill Could Make Smartphone Kill Switch Mandatory Posted: 18 Feb 2014 04:30 AM PST  Considering how much sensitive data we store on our phones, the idea of a kill switch that could be triggered if the device gets stolen or misplaced is not bad at all. Having your smartphone stolen could mean the beginning of a downward spiral, especially if you don’t take security measures to protect your apps and accounts. There are plenty of solutions for privacy and security freaks, but a kill switch that comes by default on each device could make things a lot easier. Several US senators proposed a law that would make the smartphone kill switch a mandatory feature. Since one third of the stolen goods in the US are smartphones, it’s quite easy to guess how the kill switch could give people peace of mind.
Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar, who founded the Smartphone Theft Prevention Act along with Barbara Mikulski, Richard Blumenthal and Mazie Hirono, claims that “Cell phone theft has become a big business for thieves looking to cash in on these devices and any valuable information they contain, costing consumers more than $30 billion every year and endangering countless theft victims. This legislation will help eliminate the incentives for criminals to target smartphones by empowering victims to take steps to keep their information private; protect their identity and finances; and render the phone inoperable to the thieves.” CTIA vice president Jon Carpenter emphasized that “While Senator Klobuchar and CTIA are of like mind when it comes to wanting to prevent the theft of wireless devices, we clearly disagree on how to accomplish that goal. Rather than impose technology mandates, a better approach would be to enact Senator Schumer’s legislation to criminalize tampering with mobile device identifiers. This would build on the industry’s efforts to create the stolen device databases, give law enforcement another tool to combat criminal behavior, and leave carriers, manufacturers, and software developers free to create new, innovative loss and theft prevention tools for consumers who want them.” The idea of having a smartphone kill switch isn’t exactly new. Samsung implemented it in some of its products last year, but US carriers weren’t that fond of it, so the feature didn’t really make it on this market. Apple, on the other hand, offers Activation Lock in iOS 7, which is very similar in concept to a kill switch. Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about these 16 anti-theft gadgets and designs to deter thieves or the PrivatOS-based Blackphone that keeps NSA at bay. |
| Posted: 18 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST  No longer on the app store, one of the most popular apps is one of the hardest to find but with our step by step guide we teach you how to download Flappy Bird.
Don't let the small detail stop you. Flappy Bird may have been taken off of both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, but that doesn't mean that you can't play the game, even if you don't have it downloaded. Dong Nguyen's popular bird floating title isn't gone for good, despite the developer delisting the game on account of getting too popular. However, the game has been posted elsewhere and we've got a step by step guide on how to download Flappy Bird. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Neither Walyou nor the writer of this article can be responsible for any files or software that you download. The guide is merely a suggestion and it is up to you to take the risk! 1. Download the Client The method that we're using is called 'torrenting', which is effectively peer to peer file transfer. In other words, someone else has the Flappy Bird file and torrenting is the way to get it! Before you even think about finding a plucky young app hoarder to source Flappy Bird from, you'll need a torrent client (if Flappy Bird was a house, a client is the front door you need to go through). Personally, I recommend uTorrent, a torrent client that tells you an estimated download time, download speed and lets you manage all of your torrents in one handy list! 2. Find a Torrent If Flappy Bird is a house and uTorrent is the front door, then the torrent is the key to unlock it. Finding a torrent is the trickiest part of all this, mostly in part that due to copyright laws and the fact that torrents give us free access to paid things (torrenting can also let you download TV shows and movies), many popular torrent sites are blocked depending on which part of the world you live in. The most torrent popular site is The Pirate Bay.
3. Choose a Torrent As you can see in the image above, searching for 'Flappy Bird' gave me a list of 11 results. Obviously, due to the nature of torrenting and downloading files from the Internet, there is the likelihood of some torrents being a scam (hence the legal disclaimer) but a telling way of weeding out the real from the fake is how many seeders (people who have the file and are uploading it) and leechers (people who don't have the file and are downloading it) there are. The bigger the numbers of each, the more you can trust the torrent. Some of the search results are labelled for Android/iOS compatibility so check out the categories (as well as the description and comments for any extra compatibility info you can gather) before downloading. 4. Download the Torrent Once you're satisfied with the Flappy Bird torrent that you've chosen, click "GET THIS TORRENT" above the description. If you've installed uTorrent, then the torrent should load directly into the client and start downloading and once it's completed, there will likely be a file of Flappy Bird ready to install, somewhere on your computer! 5. Install Flappy Bird Now that the torrent is downloaded, all that's left to do is install it on your Android or iOS device of choice. It may be slightly more difficult to get the Flappy Bird file onto an iOS device (something that I cannot advise you with), so if you're planning on torrenting the game for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, I recommend that you keep this in mind if you're expecting the install process to be easy. If you're using an Android device, however, things are relatively smooth. For the most part, the process can be as easy as connecting your Android device to your computer (via USB cable), finding the Flappy Bird file on your computer and copy and pasting it over to the appropriate folder on your device (pasting it into a folder called 'Apps' or 'Games' would likely be your best bet). Once Flappy Bird is all installed and ready to go, all that's left to do is play! And if you need tips on how to be a good Flappy Bird player, be on the look out for a Flappy Bird tips and tricks guide on Walyou later in the week. Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories Used Phone Prices Soar, As Long As They Include Flappy Bird, Nintendo Reportedly Basing Next Console on iOS |
| Albert Ransom Vs. King.com: The Dark Side Of The Candy Saga Posted: 18 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST  Candy Crush creators, King.com, recently outraged every gamer in the world after attempting to trademark the word “candy”, but turns out the rabbit hole gets a bit deeper…
Indie game developer Albert Ransom of Runsome Apps has made his discontent clear: he claims that the sue-happy company king.com, who tried to trademark the “Candy” name for their use only, shouldn’t be even entitled to have Candy Crush Saga out there, as it’s Ransom claims it just rips off his own game, Candy Swipe. Whether his claims are all true or not is the users’ call to judge, but what is undeniable is that Candy Swipe predates Candy Crush for about two years, and that this move by King.com (legally prosecuting everyone who uses “candy” in the title) is depriving Ransom and many other developers of their way of making a profit. Ransom explains it all in the open letter right below these lines.
Dear King, Congratulations! You win! I created my game CandySwipe in memory of my late mother who passed away at an early age of 62 of leukemia. I released CandySwipe in 2010 five months after she passed and I made it because she always liked these sorts of games. In fact, if you beat the full version of the android game, you will still get the message saying “…the game was made in memory of my mother, Layla…” I created this game for warmhearted people like her and to help support my family, wife and two boys 10 and 4. Two years after I released CandySwipe, you released Candy Crush Saga on mobile; the app icon, candy pieces, and even the rewarding, “Sweet!” are nearly identical. So much so, that I have hundreds of instances of actual confusion from users who think CandySwipe is Candy Crush Saga, or that CandySwipe is a Candy Crush Saga knockoff. So when you attempted to register your trademark in 2012, I opposed it for “likelihood of confusion” (which is within my legal right) given I filed for my registered trademark back in 2010 (two years before Candy Crush Saga existed). Now, after quietly battling this trademark opposition for a year, I have learned that you now want to cancel my CandySwipe trademark so that I don’t have the right to use my own game’s name. You are able to do this because only within the last month you purchased the rights to a game named Candy Crusher (which is nothing like CandySwipe or even Candy Crush Saga). Good for you, you win. I hope you’re happy taking the food out of my family’s mouth when CandySwipe clearly existed well before Candy Crush Saga. I have spent over three years working on this game as an independent app developer. I learned how to code on my own after my mother passed and CandySwipe was my first and most successful game; it’s my livelihood, and you are now attempting to take that away from me. You have taken away the possibility of CandySwipe blossoming into what it has the potential of becoming. I have been quiet, not to exploit the situation, hoping that both sides could agree on a peaceful resolution. However, your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me. This also contradicts your recent quote by Riccardo in “An open letter on intellectual property” posted on your website which states, “We believe in a thriving game development community, and believe that good game developers – both small and large – have every right to protect the hard work they do and the games they create.” I myself was only trying to protect my hard work. I wanted to take this moment to write you this letter so that you know who I am. Because I now know exactly what you are. Congratulations on your success! Sincerely, Source: Candy Swipe Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about Samsung's TabPRO and NotePRO and the HTC Nexus 10 that is reportedly coming out this year. |
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