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Apple clarify: users’ health data is not for sale

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Apple iPhone health data

Apple has clarified some of the policies for developers, now that health apps are coming. Basically, user’s health data is not for sale.

It’s official: Apple doesn’t want developers to sell health data to advertisers. The new iPhone coming next month will include health tracking devices, and obviously, lots of developers and users are going to take advantage of that and a new world of health apps will be born.Yet, whoever uses the “HealthKit” platform has a very specific clause that says they are not allowed to sell any data gathered using it to advertisers. Apple have already announced their own, standard app dubbed “Health”, which is able to measure blood pressure, heart rate and keep records of users’ diet and exercise patterns.

The rules clarify a very special exception: “third parties for medical research purposes” as long as they get users’ consent. In their own words, “Your application must not access the HealthKit APIs unless it is primarily designed to provide health and/or fitness services, and this usage is clearly evident in your marketing text and user interface.” It goes on explaining that “[developers] and [their] application may not use the HealthKit APIs, or any information obtained through the HealthKit APIs, for any purpose other than providing health and/or fitness services in connection with your application (eg not for serving advertising).”

Apple have already sent invitations for an event this 9th of September, where we expect we will see their latest iPhone along their new, wearable technology. The other rumor that needs to be clarified is if they are indeed joining the smartwatch race or not.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more stories at Asus to develop their own Smartwatch and 7 of the Most Revolutionary iPhone 6 Features.

Walmart Now Selling the iPhone 5C for 97 Cents

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 05:00 AM PDT

iPhone 5C

As rumours of the iPhone 6's release hot up, Walmart starts to sell its predecessor for under a dollar.

There's something quite remarkable about the way that Apple do things. Despite their operating systems being available as a free upgrade on each of their products and despite the changes to their phones being largely being incremental year on year, the Cupertino, Calif. based company still manages to sell shedloads of iPhones each and every annum. So high is the furore around the iPhone 6, for example, that people are willing to believe that an iPhone clone running a clunky, unresponsive and frankly embarrassingly poor version of Android is that very phone, despite it not having being officially released yet. The one time that Apple's stifling ability to keep selling iPhones was stunted last year however, when they released the iPhone 5S and "budget" model the iPhone 5C alongside one another with the iPhone 5C being a good handset that just failed to garner much interest. Now though, getting an iPhone 5C is a great decision because it's dirt cheap.

Walmart is the store that we can thank for this cut price iPhone 5C. Unfortunately the 5C didn't sell quite as well upon release as its bigger, more expensive brother, partly because although Apple marketed it as a "budget" phone, it would still cost you several hundred dollars albeit without the fancy design or the much lusted after fingerprint scanner. That said though, the iPhone 5C is still a valuable purchase if you're interested as its innards are just as fast as the iPhone 5S' but, as witnessed by the headline, with none of the cost.

It's unclear how long Walmart will continue to sell the iPhone 5C at this low price, although it's presumably until they either run out of stock or until Apple stops making them. For now though, you can pick it up for 97 cents (down from $29) on a two year contract with either AT&T, U.S. Cellular, Sprint or Verizon. They're offering a similarly bargain deal on the iPhone 5S, having slashed prices of that model to $79 (down from $99). The only catch is that it's not available online and you'll have to go into a Walmart store to take advantage of it, but it's probably still worth it if you've got a spare dollar around.

Source: Mashable

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World’s First 3D Printed Vertebra Implant Marks a Success for Biotech Industry

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 01:55 PM PDT

3D Printed Vertebra

By now, it’s clear that 3D printing doesn’t resume to toys and the such. Food, buildings, and as of late body parts are making their way into our lives using a method that would’ve been considered inconceivable a few years ago.

After 3D printed blood vessels and ears, biotech companies expressed their interest in 3D printing livers and other organs. There’s no doubt that they’re closer to a viable product and that they’re progressing with each passing day, but until the 3D printed liver becomes a reality, today’s news is one of the most important things for the future of medical tech.

Qin Minglin, a 12-year old Chinese boy suffering from bone cancer went through a surgical procedure that involved the implant of a 3D printed vertebra into his spine. The 5-hour surgery took place at the Peking University Hospital and implied the removal of a tumor from the spine and the replacement of the affected vertebra with the 3D printed one.

Dr. Liu Zhongjun, the surgeon behind this project and director of the orthopedics department at Peking University, pointed out that “This is the first use of a 3D printed vertebra as an implant for orthopedic spine surgery in the world.”

He proceeded to explain in an interview with Reuters how the 3D printed vertebra gets to fit perfectly in the patient’s bone structure: “We can use iconographic tests on patients such as a computed [tomography], or CT scans, and convert the CT data into 3D-printing data in order to produce an internal fixation with exactly the same structure as the patient’s bone structure. When it is implanted into a human being, it perfectly matches the patient’s own anatomical structure.”

While consumer 3D printers rely on polymers to produce various objects, such a material was out of discussion in the case of the 3D printed vertebra. As a result, it was created using titanium powder, a material that’s widely used in orthopedics because of its biocompatibility, light weight and strength.

“Using existing technology, the patient’s head needs to be framed with pins after surgery,” said Dr. Zhongjun, explaining that this 3D printed vertebra will reduce the recovery time. “But with 3D-printing technology, we can simulate the shape of the vertebra, which is much stronger and more convenient than traditional methods.”

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about Disney Research’s method of 3D printing human hair accurately, and the Mcor Isis that uses layers of paper to bring color to 3D printing.

Samsung Gear S Smartwatch Packs a 3G Modem for Calls and Texts without a Smartphone

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 01:22 PM PDT

Samsung Gear S Tizen OS Smartwatch

Not long ago, it was rumored that Samsung might be working on a standalone smartwatch, and now the rumors became reality in the form of the Gear S wearable.

Not being tied to a smartphone when using a wearable definitely feels great, and Samsung finally realized that. Its standalone smartwatch was first hinted at back in May, and now it has become very palpable. The Gear S (which was actually meant to be called Gear Solo, according to the rumors) has a few things that set it apart from the rest of the crowd, and Samsung surely hopes to capitalize on that.

First of all, it includes a 3G modem that enables the smartwatch to send texts, as well as place and answer calls without the need of a smartphone around. That’s definitely convenient, as there are plenty of situations where a smartphone could be cumbersome, rather than helpful. Armbands aside, when running or performing any other physical activities, smartwatches are definitely a better way of tracking the activity than a smartphone.

Secondly, Samsung Gear S, as its name suggests, is not part of the Android-running Galaxy family. Instead, it uses Samsung’s home-grown operating system, Tizen OS. This is yet another proof that the Korean tech giant intends to cut some of the cords that keep it tied to Google and its mobile OS.

In terms of technical specs, Gear S features a 2-inch AMOLED screen and a dual-core 1GHz CPU, along with 512MB of RAM, as anything more than that would practically be useless in such a device. As far as the internal storage is concerned, the 4GB that are available to the user should be more than enough for a lengthy playlist.

The motion and heart rate sensors will come useful when working out, even though there might be other situations when knowing your heart rate comes in handy. On top of that, the GPS sensor that’s accompanied by Nokia’s HERE pedestrian navigation software could prove useful for apps that are the equivalent of Endomondo for Android. Knowing the route that’s been covered while working out is good, in case you want to do it again sometime.

Samsung Gear S will be officially launched at IFA 2014 in Berlin, next week, and will start shipping in October at a yet to be disclosed price.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the rumored standalone Samsung smartwatch, and the Timex Ironman One GPS+ smartwatch.

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