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US Government Spends $10 Million on Anti-Obesity Video Games
iPhone 6 Scratched Screen Issue Could be the New ‘Bendgate’
Cubic: Your Own A.I. Personal Assistant
GoPro Drones Might Take to the Skies Soon

US Government Spends $10 Million on Anti-Obesity Video Games

Posted: 27 Nov 2014 08:00 AM PST

As childhood obesity figures rise, the United States government has invested millions of dollars into games that can help to fight it.

Childhood obesity is a huge problem affecting the world’s young population. According to statistics, childhood obesity has more than quadrupled in the last 30 years.

The problem is worse still in America with the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention stating that “The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012.” And, “in 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.”

So obviously, in order to get adolescents a little healthier, work needs to be done. One possible solution? Video games; and now the United States government has invested millions in just that.

The National Institutes of Health has forked over over $10 million to Archimage, Inc to create two obesity fighting games. These include Escape from Diab which received $9,091,409 in funding.

As explained by Archimage,

“The story centers around five children who must get healthy enough to escape the evil King Etes,

Deejay, an athletic inner city youth, accidentally tumbles into an abandoned building and through its rotting floor. When he awakes, he finds himself in Diab, a nightmare city where people eat nothing but junk food."

He finds new friends and agrees to help them prepare for their escape to the legendary Golden City, using everything he has learned about nutrition and exercise from his track coach," it says. "Deejay's arrival has been noted by the despotic King Etes who will stop at nothing to capture him."

A trailer further explains that “This is the town of Diab. You can eat all the junk food you want. In Diab, you never have to exercise Sound like a dream? It's not."

While the idea of fighting childhood obesity is a good – and an extremely important one – games like Escape from Diab arguably are not the way to do it.

Games like Escape from Diab don’t help promote healthy eating, they instead promote anti-obesity thinking. For example, this game makes it clear that obese people are something to be ‘escaped from’ rather than y’know, considered as actual people who should be treated all the same, weight category or not.

Furthermore, video games are not a solid way of fighting childhood obesity. The NIH clearly fails to understand that people aren’t just obese because they’ve eaten the wrong things but it’s because of many factors – including lack of access to healthy food or being unable to afford non-junk food options – that their weight is how it is.

Rather than spending millions of taxpayer money on a game that ridicules, ostracises and in many ways makes fun of obese children, maybe that money could be spent on healthy foods for the people they’re trying to reach. That’s more effective than making young people feel bad.

Source: Free Beacon

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iPhone 6 Scratched Screen Issue Could be the New ‘Bendgate’

Posted: 27 Nov 2014 06:00 AM PST

After iPhone 6 Plus Bendgate upset many Apple fans, yet another issue with the iPhone 6′s hardware threatens to disappoint.

Announced back in September, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus quickly became a ‘must have’ item. Only, upon release, Apple’s latest flagship smartphone didn’t display the quality that had been offered.

While a plethora of iOS 8 problems (including one that wouldn’t let users make calls) broke the software, iPhone 6 Plus Bendgate was a massive hardware problem instead. Thousands of users reported that the aluminium body of their iPhone 6 Plus had been bending under pressure – including when the phone was put into a tight, jean pocket.

At the time, Apple stock prices tumbled and so the company vehemently denied it saying that just nine people had reported bending. But with iPhone 6 screens now also being an issue, this is one problem the company can’t afford to ignore.

According to AppleInsider, many iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users have had to cart their handsets off to Apple Stores to report odd scratches with their screens. Users in the official forum are reporting that the scratches even show up after the utmost of care and the thread has now been viewed over 100,000 times, seeming to suggest that plenty are looking for advice. Meanwhile, the publication also notes that the scratches on their iPhones were so deep that they could be felt with a thumbnails and seen when the device is off.

The reason for this could be the fact that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have no bezel as Apple have used a curved display glass to make the phone look and feel better instead. But at what cost? With the previous iPhone 5 design thrown out (the iPhone 5 used flat pieces of glass surrounded in thermoplastic and polymer), the new iPhone 6 models offer lesser shock resistance and less scratch resistance too since laying your phone on its face leaves it completely vulnerable to scratches from whatever you laid it down on.

Sadly, while the problem seems to be quite a serious issue, Apple doesn’t have specific rules on how to deal with it. Some users said that they got new screens from the Apple Store while others said that heading in-store proved fruitless. Still, if you are having problems with your iPhone’s screen, you should at least test your chances and visit Apple to see what they can do.

Source: AppleInsider

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories, Apple's iPhone and iPad Get Banned in Russia, Minecraft Player Creates Working iPhone 6 Inside Game

Cubic: Your Own A.I. Personal Assistant

Posted: 27 Nov 2014 04:00 AM PST

Looking for a personal assistant but don’t want to actually hire one? Cubic, a gadget that’s supposed to take care of almost every need you have in terms of organizing your day and making your life a lot more comfortable just might be the answer.

So what is Cubic? Something of a digital co-pilot, which users interact with by speaking or using companion apps on mobile devices. Services such as IFTTT, Nest, Hue, Spotify, SmartThings, Homeboy and more currently support it.

It’s currently over on the Indiegogo crowd funding website looking to raise $100,000 in pledges to make the jump from concept to production.

The premise for the gadget is as following:

With Cubic, you can harness the power of all of your scattered technology from anywhere. You just talk to Cubic, and Cubic gets things done. If you're at work, Cubic can adjust the temperature in your home, turn off your lights, lock your doors, set your alarm, and more. On the go, Cubic can remind you where you parked, tell you how many calories you've burned, and make funny comments about the news. In the car, Cubic can give you traffic updates and read you emails. You can even ask Cubic to repeat that funny comment he made and have him Tweet it for you. At home, Cubic can tell you when your favorite show is on, play music, order delivery, read instructions while you cook, turn off your alarm, tell you knock-knock jokes, anything. Users can connect with Cubic through a range of devices that have you covered at home and on the go. And thanks to Cubic's developer-friendly, open API, there are tons of opportunities for integration with gadgets and services yet to come.

In short? An actual personal assistant, only in the form of a small box. It’s pretty much all the apps you use on your tablet or smartphone and in your home all crammed into one unit, with the ability to interact with it through other mediums. Almost like a digital friend, although unlike the Tamaguchi, you don’t have to feed it.

For more, go to Indiegogo

For a bit more on Artificial intelligence, check out this post about the moves Google are making in the field.

GoPro Drones Might Take to the Skies Soon

Posted: 26 Nov 2014 12:51 PM PST

Ever since action cameras and drones were invented, a lot of people have thought about strapping one to the other in order to record some great action from up high. With that in mind, GoPro is ready to launch a line of drones with this functionality.

GoPro action cameras already are expensive gadgets, so don’t imagine these action drones will come cheap. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, GoPro is looking to cut the branch from underneath the drone manufacturers whose products are used along Hero action cameras by starting to create its own drones.

The multi-rotor helicopters made by GoPro will be equipped with HD cameras, but it’s unknown if the company will use its existent range or will start working on a new line specifically for these drones. If Hero cameras are to be used, will the drones act as a dock for them or will the cameras be incorporated? All these questions will be answered once the helicopters are launched.

In the report it’s stated that the GoPro drones will cost somewhere between $500 and $1,000, probably depending on the camera they’re equipped with. That’s a lot, compared with DJI’s Phantom Drone that retails for $279, or the Parrot MiniDrones that cost $99. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that none of those drone manufacturers has as much experience as GoPro at making action cameras.