Dangerous Apps

 

Security Master – Antivirus, VPN, AppLock, Booster | 500 million installs

• Virus Cleaner, Antivirus, Cleaner (MAX Security) | 50 million installs

• Antivirus Free 2019 – Scan & Remove Virus, Cleaner | 10 million installs

• 360 Security – Free Antivirus, Booster, Cleaner | 100 million installs

• Virus Cleaner 2019 – Antivirus, Cleaner & Booster | 50 million installs

• Super Phone Cleaner: Virus Cleaner, Phone Cleaner | 50 million installs

• 360 Security Lite – Booster, Cleaner, AppLock | 50 million installs

• Super Cleaner – Antivirus, Booster, Phone Cleaner | 100 million installs

• Clean Master – Antivirus, Applock & Cleaner | 1 billion installs

• Super Security – Antivirus, Booster & AppLock | 10 million installs

• Antivirus Free – Virus Cleaner | 50 million installs

• Antivirus Free 2019 – Virus Cleaner | 1 million installs

• Antivirus Android | 1 million installs

• Antivirus & Virus Cleaner | 10 million installs

• Antivirus Mobile – Cleaner, Phone Virus Scanner

Google is aware of the problem. To try to solve it, it’s now enlisted the help of ESET to proactively protect mobile applications on the Google Play Store. ESET prides itself as a global leader in cybersecurity and just become a founding member of the App Defense Alliance.

 

 

Upcoming Trend—Voting With Apps

 

The Sovereign app unites blockchain and liquid democracy, a form of democracy that gives people more control over their votes by allowing them to vote directly on issues themselves or pass their vote on to a delegate.

The developers believe the, Democracy Earth, can solve a couple of problems associated with this type of democracy, including the ability of popular users to amass an unhealthy number of votes and the tendency for voters to become exhausted by the seemingly infinite number of issues requiring votes.

More Here

 

 

 

The App That Failed Iowa Yesterday

Due to a coding error, the app, created by a company called Shadow Inc., wasn’t reporting the correct data, according to the Iowa Democratic Party. The error resulted in the Democrats delaying all public reporting of the results of Monday’s caucuses, and has sown chaos and confusion in a hotly contested and deeply important primary.

The New York Times reported that many precinct chiefs had difficulty downloading the app, and Motherboard’s screenshots give hints as to why that might be. The app was not deployed through traditional app stores or even side loaded using an enterprise certificate. Instead, it was deployed through the TestFairy testing platform, which is similar to Apple’s TestFlight and used predominantly for Android and iOS apps that are not yet finalized.

The screenshot from Motherboard also reveal that the app was distributed using the platform’s free tier and not its enterprise one. That means Shadow didn’t even pony up for the TestFairy plan that comes with single sign-on authentication, unlimited data retention, and end-to-end encryption. Instead, it looks like the company used the version of TestFairy anyone can try for free, which deletes any app data after 30 days and limits the number of test users that can access the app to 200.

Uber Currently Piloting A Ride-Booking Kiosk @ Toronto Pearson International Airport In Canada

 

Potential Riders can simply submit their name and phone number in the self-service kiosk. The company’s first-ever kiosk solution is designed to be more accessible for travelers with language or technological barriers, or who have difficulty using smartphones.

No USD 82 billion IPO? No airport presence? No problem. Even if your brand isn’t Uber-sized, there are still lessons from how it approached this kiosk:

Uber’s physical kiosk, for instance, is ideal for travelers who aren’t technologically fluent or those who’ve arrived without a local SIM!

Stalkerware Apps Removed From Playstore

Researchers from Avast discovered seven stalkerware apps on the Google Play store.

Avast

Antivirus company Avast said Wednesday that it’s found seven stalkerware apps available on Android’s market. They were installed more than 130,000 times. Google removed four of the apps after Avast reported the privacy violations on Tuesday, and removed the last three on Wednesday. 

Best Apps For Booking Last Minute Travels

Getting there

Momondo

Has the most reliable – flight search services, you can get some inspiration on where to take your impromptu vacay by hitting its Trip Finder section.

Cruise Finder

For holiday on the high seas minus much planning, head to Cruise Finder (iOS/Android), a one-stop resource for cruises departing as imminently as the following week.

Fareness

A flight search service based on finding you the lowest-priced dates to fly, Fareness (iOS/Android) is a great option when you’re flexible on destination.

Picking your accommodations

HotelTonight

HotelTonight pioneered the idea that one could score a nice hotel room last minute, for a reasonable fee. The app-only (Android/iOS) platform has a well-curated selection of hotels in 600 cities, sorted into Basic, Solid, Hip and Luxe categories to facilitate quick decision-making, with rooms bookable in about ten seconds.

Airbnb

Whether you’re on a tight budget or prefer the space of a well-appointed home on holiday, Airbnb(Android/iOS) is a great port of call for last-minute accommodation that usually doesn’t cost any more than it would if you’d planned ahead.

When you land

Citymapper

Citymapper (Android/iOS) contains transit maps for nearly 40 major cities in Europe, Asia and North America with the options to save them offline, making it ideal for the frequent holidaymaker, spontaneous or not.

It displays all your transport options, from buses, trains and subways to local ride-sharing options such as Uber or Lyft, as well as cycle-sharing schemes. Once you input a landmark or street address to navigate to, it displays how each of these options can get you there, including time is take, fare and even calorie burn for walking or cycling. In some cities, you can also book a ‘Smart Ride’, an on-demand, fixed-fare minibus service operated by Citymapper itself, though whether it’s more convenient (or cheaper) depends on where you’re going.

Spotted by Locals

Covering 76 cities in Europe, North America and the Middle East, Spotted by Locals (Android/iOS) offers Lonely Planet-esque city guides based entirely on tips by locals, rather than tourist attractions. According to the site, “spotters” apply to write for the guides and cover only their frequently visited spots, which helps recommendations maintain their edge. Each guide costs $3.99 to download to your phone, after which you’ll have offline access, with new and seasonal tips updated for free. Within the app, you can navigate to suggested spots (no need for internet) as well as add your own places – such as your hotel – to your map. If you’re not sure you need the whole guide, head to the website, where tips are freely available.

Nike’s Self Tying Sneakers Works With An App So Could They Be Hacked?

Nike’s Adapt BBs aren’t even the first pair of smart shoes. Under Armour has been making connected kicks for a while now — it’s on its fourth generation with its HOVR line, with an embedded chip that tracks your footsteps and running pace. Puma also entered the self-tying shoe world with the Puma Fit Intelligence line, which it announced Jan. 31.

Nike and Under Armour say they’re taking data privacy and security seriously with their new shoes. Puma, which is expecting its self-tying sneakers release in 2020, didn’t offer details on its shoe security protocol.

While Nike says it’s kept its connected sneakers safe from hackers, the concern is that as more companies try to make connected shoes, the chances of having a shoe eventually hacked will increase.

The Adapt BBs pair with Nike’s app through Bluetooth Low Energy, a connection protocol that’s often used in smart devices because it allows for longer battery life. The sneaker connection is encrypted, a Nike spokesman said.

However, Bluetooth Low Energy isn’t impervious. Security researchers have found issues with BLE chips that could have allowed hackers to spread malware across hospitals and factories.

Nike’s app will do more than just control the laces on your sneakers. The company wants to collect data through the app to help athletes with their performance

Inside the shoebox for Under Armour’s new line of HOVR sneakers, which have a chip inside that tracks your steps and running activity.

 

Dating Apps

 

The League

The League is an “elite dating app” that requires you to apply to get access. Your job title and the college you attended are factors The League considers when you apply, which is why you have to provide your Linkedin account

Elite Singles allows you to search its thousands of members by race and ethnicity, but if you’re also looking for a date or partner with a quality education, you can find him or her — about 82% of members have a degree from a higher education institution.

first stop for those entering the dating world. If you want to play the odds when it comes to online dating, you probably need to be swiping where everyone’s swiping.

The largest dating site and app in the industry, Match.com is a fantastic choice for single black men and women because of its sheer size (over 30 million active users!)

Zoosk is a pioneer in the dating app space, coming onto the scene in the early 2000s.

Bumble

Bumble is basically Tinder for women… and on a timer. Bumble requires women to message first and if the guy doesn’t message back within 24 hours, he loses the potential match

MELD

BEST

OF

MELD was created with black single professionals in mind. A majority of members are looking for a serious relationship, and the app even uses LinkedIn to ensure the authenticity of every person.

Changes in the last year have made OkCupid a bit more like Tinder, focusing more on swiping and eliminating the ability to message a user without matching with them first

 

Starbucks Teams Up With Uber Eats

Starbucks has announced a partnership with Uber Eats to deliver drinks and snacks from 2,000 of its stores across the U.S. You can place an order using the Starbucks or Uber Eats app.

Twenty-two apps with more than 2 million downloads have been removed from the Google Play market after researchers found they contained a device-draining backdoor that allowed them to secretly download files from an attacker-controlled server.

The 22  titles included Sparkle Flashlight, a flashlight app has been downloaded more than 1 million times since it entered Google Play sometime in 2016 or 2017. Beginning around March of this year, Sparkle Flashlight and two other apps were updated to add the secret down-loader. The remaining 19 apps became available after June and contained the down-loader from the start.

Many of the malicious Google Play apps were made by developers who had titles in the iOS App Store.

The captured traffic displayed below, also taken from an Android virtual device, shows Andr/Clickr-ad abusing Twitter’s ad network by posing as an ad running on a Samsung Galaxy S7:

The 22 apps listed by Sophos are:

Package Name	Title	Sha1
com.sparkle.flashlight	Sparkle FlashLight	9ed2b260704fbae83c02f9f19a2c4e85b93082e7
com.mobilebt.snakefight	Snake Attack	0dcbbae5d18c33039db726afd18df59a77761c03
com.mobilebt.mathsolver	Math Solver	be300a317264da8f3464314e8fdf08520e49a55b
com.mobilebt.shapesorter	ShapeSorter	e28658e744b2987d31f26b2dd2554d7a639ca26d
com.takatrip.android	Tak A Trip	0bcd55faae22deb60dd8bd78257f724bd1f2fc89
com.magnifeye.android	Magnifeye	7d80bd323e2a15233a1ac967bd2ce89ef55d3855
com.pesrepi.joinup	Join Up	c99d4eaeebac26e46634fcdfa0cb371a0ae46a1a
com.pesrepi.zombiekiller	Zombie Killer	19532b1172627c2f6f5398cf4061cca09c760dd9
com.pesrepi.spacerocket	Space Rocket	917ab70fffe133063ebef0894b3f0aa7f1a9b1b0
com.pesrepi.neonpong	Neon Pong	d25fb7392fab90013e80cca7148c9b4540c0ca1d
app.mobile.justflashlight	Just Flashlight	6fbc546b47c79ace9f042ef9838c88ce7f9871f6
com.mobile.tablesoccer	Table Soccer	fea59796bbb17141947be9edc93b8d98ae789f81
com.mobile.cliffdiver	Cliff Diver	4b23f37d138f57dc3a4c746060e57c305ef81ff6
com.mobile.boxstack	Box Stack	c64ecc468ff0a2677bf40bf25028601bef8395fc
net.kanmobi.jellyslice	Jelly Slice	692b31f1cd7562d31ebd23bf78aa0465c882711d
com.maragona.akblackjack	AK Blackjack	91663fcaa745b925e360dad766e50d1cc0f4f52c
com.maragona.colortiles	Color Tiles	21423ec6921ae643347df5f32a239b25da7dab1b
com.beacon.animalmatch	Animal Match	403c0fea7d6fcd0e28704fccf5f19220a676bf6c
com.beacon.roulettemania	Roulette Mania	8ad739a454a9f5cf02cc4fb311c2479036c36d0a
com.atry.hexafall	HexaFall	751b515f8f01d4097cb3c24f686a6562a250898a
com.atry.hexablocks	HexaBlocks	ef94a62405372edd48993030c7f256f27ab1fa49
com.atry.pairzap	PairZap	6bf67058946b74dade75f22f0032b7699ee75b9e

Android users should be highly selective about the apps they install. Carefully reading reviews can sometimes help, but the rave reviews many of the Andr/Clickr-ad apps received underscores the limits to this measure. The best advice that makes the most sense is to install as few apps as possible, particularly if, as is the case with flashlight apps, the same function is offered inside the Android OS itself.

Google Removes Some Apps From Google Play Because of Malware

 Digital Trends says you should your phone in safe or airplane mode before visiting the app settings menu to uninstall the app. After that, users should install malware protection and check to see that any other apps aren’t known to be utilizing malware. 

Luxury Cars SUV Traffic
Car Driving Simulator
Extreme Car Driving Racing
Moto Cross Extreme Racing
SUV City Climb Parking
Extreme Car Driving City
City Traffic Moto Racing
Extreme Sport Car Driving
Hyper Car Driving Simulator
Truck Cargo Simulator
SUV 4×4 Driving Simulator
Firefighter – Fire Truck Simulator
Luxury Car Parking

Car Sharing App?

 

Turo is a new app and website that lets you rent someone else’s car at a lower cost than a car rental agency. But it is not a rental car company, Turo insists.

Turo has emerged in major cities along the east and west coasts and has now popped up in Salt Lake City.

But Turo’s entrance into Salt Lake City has already resulted in at least one criminal prosecution. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill’s office prosecuted a Lehi man on a misdemeanor charge of operating at the airport without a permit. The man dropped off a vehicle at Salt Lake City International Airport to be rented to another — and was cited. There’s a permitting requirement.  Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft were initially banned from the airport grounds when they arrived in Utah. Scooter company Bird was initially told to stop renting out scooters after operating without a business license. Right now, Salt Lake City is working with Bird and Lime to craft a workable ordinance.

New York Plans To Cap Uber & Lyfte

 

New York City Council moved to impose a slate of new regulations on ride-hailing services. If Mayor Bill de Blasio signs off on the new legislation, New York would be the first city in the U.S. to cap the number of Uber and Lyft vehicles, as well as establish a minimum wage for drivers. It would also impose a new license requirement with more robust data-sharing requirements for the fiercely proprietary companies.

During the year-long cap on vehicle growth, the city would also conduct an impact study of the services. However, foes say it could lead to higher fares and more limited services. Ride-hailing has devastated the yellow cab industry, which is highly regulated in New York City compared to Uber and Lyft. Taxi medallions, once highly sought, have plummeted in value since TNCs came onto the scene, casting many drivers into financial ruin & death. A 2017 survey by the Independent Drivers Guild, which represents ride-hailing drivers, found that 57 percent of app based drivers bring in less than $50,000 annually, and 22 percent less than $30,000.

Google Launches Photography Apps

Storyboard

The apps dubbed “appsperiments” are available on both the iOS App Store and Google Play. The three apps in question are called Storyboard, Selfissimo!, and Scrubbies.

The first, Storyboard, turns videos into single-page comic layouts on your device. Turning photos into images inspired by art – including comic book art – is something that grew popular with the launch of the A.I.-powered editing app Prisma.

Selfissimo!

Selfissimo! (iOS, Android) is an automated selfie photographer that snaps a stylish black and white photo each time you pose. Tap the screen to start a photoshoot. The app encourages you to pose and captures a photo whenever you stop moving. Tap again to end the session and review the resulting contact sheet, saving individual images or the entire shoot.

Scrubbies

Scrubbies (iOS) allows you to easily manipulate the speed and direction of video playback to produce lovely video loops that highlight actions, capture funny faces, and replay moments. You can shoot a video in the app and then remix it by scratching it like a DJ.

Google Adding Resturant Wait Times

 Google will now include a pop-up box that appears when you click on a time frame in the popular times’ chart. The box will provide a live or historical data labeled as “busy,” “usually busy,” “usually not busy,” etc., along with the wait time.

Below the popular time’s chart, there’s also a section that helps users plan their visit by offering info on the peak wait times and duration. (e.g. “People typically spend 45 mins to 2 hr here.”)

The new wait time feature will be supported on nearly a million sit-down restaurant listings worldwide, initially in Google Search.

Google is at least partly challenging existing apps like NoWait, which is handy for seeing restaurant wait times.  NoWait also lets you put your name on the list for those restaurants that don’t take reservations Google’s app doesn’t.

You can view the times in the restaurant listings on both mobile and desktop. It will then come to Google Maps to Android, at which point it will expand to include grocery stores, the company says.

New Anatomy App Allows You To See Your Organs

Ed Barton and his UK-based startup Curiscope created a blend of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Using an anatomy VR app and the company’s Virtuali-Tee, a t-shirt, they are allowing people to see inside of their own chest cavities. This technology works using a highly-stylized QR code printed on the front of the t-shirt. When you scan the code with the corresponding app, you can explore throughout the chest cavity, including the heart and lungs.

 

 

Live Streaming The Solar Eclipse: Well There’s A Free App For That

NASA

 

On Aug. 21, the moon will slip between Earth and sun, casting a roughly 70-mile-wide shadow that will race across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina, Whereby  millions of Americans  will have a chance to enjoy — and study -spectacular event. This is the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years. It has been dubbed,  aka the “Great American Eclipse.”

Watch a live NASA stream of the eclipse as it travels across the continental United States, calculate your view with our interactive eclipse map and get a virtual view in our eclipse simulator. While you wait, check out some of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s solar research and get even closer to the sun with near-live views from space.

The Apps

Eclipse Safari is from the makers of Sky Safari, one of the leading astronomy programs for computers, tablets and smartphones. Sky Safari code also powers the same interactive map and planetarium view used by the Smithsonian app.

New York

Time	Phase	Direction	Altitude
1:23 pm Mon, Aug 21	Partial Eclipse begins The Moon touches the Sun’s edge.	192°	60.7°
2:44 pm Mon, Aug 21	Maximum Eclipse Moon is closest to the center of the Sun.	226°	53.0°
4:00 pm Mon, Aug 21	Partial Eclipse ends The Moon leaves the Sun’s edge.	247°	40.9°

WARNING

Never look directly at the Sun. You can seriously hurt your eyes, and even go blind. Proper eye protection, like eclipse glasses or a Sun filter, is the only safe option. Sunglasses don’t work.

According to NASA, the following materials should never be used to view a solar eclipse:

• sunglasses of any kind
• color film
• medical X-ray film
• smoked glass
• floppy disks

 

The new Thing In Mental Healthcare

 

Dr Jeffrey Lieberman from Columbia University says” the new technologic innovation that is emerging and which does seem likely to impact psychiatry and mental health care in a time that is commensurate with the other specialties of medicine, is the technology that informs how we use Internet-based smartphone mobile app devices. The rudimentary ways in which this has already begun to permeate medicine and mental health care include electronic health records and telemedicine, which is ideally suited to psychiatry in terms of being able to provide consultation at a distance.“The initial idea is to have smartphone-based applications that can perform several functions. One is a monitoring function: having apps that can passively monitor the activities or biologic signals of an individual—whether it is movement, heart rate, respiratory rate, or level of activity—and have an ongoing record that can be catalogued, observed, and interpreted by clinicians. A second function is as a means of communication. Doctors already have begun to employ FaceTime, Skype, and texting to maintain contact with patients remotely in a variety of situations. Another area would be to develop apps that could provide some kind of actual therapeutic assistance, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and supportive types of techniques or protocols when needed. All of these have great potential and can expand the reach of healthcare providers, psychiatrists, and mental health care clinicians, and provide help to a larger proportion of people when they need it.”

Spyware Apps That Sneaked Its Way Into Google Play & Spy On Users

Soniac was one of the three apps found on Google Play, according to a blog post published Thursday by a researcher from mobile security firm Lookout. The app, which had from 1,000 to 5,000 downloads before Google removed it.  Soniac had the ability to record audio, take phones, make calls, send text messages, and retrieve logs, contacts, and information about Wi-Fi access points. Google ejected the app after Lookout reported it as malicious. Two other apps—one called Hulk Messenger and the other Troy Chat—were also available in Play but were later removed. It’s not clear if the developer withdrew the apps or if Google expelled them after discovering their spying capabilities.  The apps are all part of a malware family Lookout calls SonicSpy.

Once installed, SonicSpy apps remove their launcher icon to hide their presence and then establish a connection to the control server located on port 2222 of arshad93.ddns[.]net.

The researcher said SonicSpy has similarities to another malicious app family called SpyNote, which security firm Palo Alto Networks reported last year. The name of the developer account—iraqwebservice—and several traits found in the apps’ code suggest the developer is located in Iraq. Additionally, much of the domain infrastructure associated with SonicSpy has references to that country. The phrase “Iraqian Shield” appears constantly. Lookout is continuing to follow leads suggesting the developer is based in that part of the world.

SAFR The Female Friendly UBER Alternative

Female-friendly alternative to Uber, Safr, launched last month in Boston.  With all the disturbing news concerning Uber and Lyft drivers the timing is just about right for Safr. A new report revealed that thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts have failed the state’s new background checks,

Safr riders can choose which gender they feel most comfortable riding with via the app—drivers have the same gender preference option—and can also take advantage of a number of built-in safety features, including a feature that can call 911, send a text to a pre-assigned contact, or dial Safr’s 24-hour command center. A color-matching system, which sends riders and drivers a color-coded message during pickups, also helps ensure passengers get into the correct vehicle.

Safr , which are currently all women, go through a more extensive recruitment, vetting, and training process than competitors.

Safr isn’t the first such startup to gear their service toward women. In 2014, New York-based SheTaxis, also known as SheRiders, tried to launch, but faced gender discrimination issues and has since folded. See Jane Go, based in Orange County, California, and conceived of by a father-daughter team worried about rider safety, began operating last September.

FBI’s Crime Wanted APP

The free app allows the public to search, sort and view information issued by the FBI.  The app contains pictures and descriptions of wanted fugitives, missing persons, crime suspects, deceased victims, and others.

The app is free and works on Apple and Android devices, including smartphones, iPads, and iPods. Depending on your device, it can be downloaded from the Apple App store or Google Play.

This video shows you how the app works and its capabilities.  The new FBI Wanted App provides a range of search and filtering options to browse information and locate specific individuals or cases.

 

The Future Of Healthcare & It’s Tranformation

The pressure to ensure accessibility, affordability, quality and sustainability, while leveraging technology in healthcare, will be on in the coming year.

As healthcare moves into the future, the quest for quality and affordability continues to be the key driver for transformation.Traditional healthcare is often said to be more “disease-care” than “healthcare”, with healthcare systems focusing on caring for the sick, expanding and improving infrastructure, and figuring out long-term financing for healthcare in an aging population. Increasingly, both medical science as well as consumers are recognizing that prevention is better than cure, especially for chronic diseases.

There has also been a overabundance of health and wellness apps – from nutrition apps to fitness trackers monitored by wearable sensors – that support this shift.Such technology not only monitors and offers insights on a person’s physiological status, but also recommends nearby healthy eateries and food selections, fitness-related events as well as exercise facilities.

This places personal health and preventative care rightfully back into the individual’s hands, shifting the outcome towards a more active and healthier community.

Health care’s resistance to transform is likely bolstered by concerns about patient data privacy, a dependence on highly specialized skills, professional ethics and a traditional emphasis on the human touch in the practice of medicine.

In Singapore, all hospitals have gone digital to a large extent, and the Government is encouraging nursing homes and GP (general practitioner) clinics across the island to follow suit.

With an Electronic Medical Record system, real-time Integrated Health Information Systems and an automated inpatient pharmacy already implemented, the next step for hospitals will be widespread tele­health services for discharged patients and the elderly in the community.

Robotics customized for the healing environment can improve patient care while relieving manpower shortages, and provide a better working environment.With everything including life-support systems hyper-connected in the Internet of Things (Io T) , cyber security will become of utmost importance.

In order to adapt to societal needs, modern healthcare professionals need to be well-educated in the management of technological capabilities and deliver patient-centric solutions.

Smart Heels & Hair Brush

The Zhor-Tech Digitsole heels come in two models: a pair with heated insoles and another pair with an adjustable, mechanical high heel. The heated insoles build on previous technology that Zhor-Tech has made under its Digitsole brand, whereas the adjustable heels are new. Both pairs also track your activity (of course!) and pair wirelessly with an app, where you can control the temperature or the height of your heels.

The adjustable high heels, which range from 1.7 inches high to 3.1 inches, are in theory a modern woman’s dream. Rather than schlepping around an extra pair of shoes — so when the high-heeled ones you feel obligated to wear start to hurt, you can slip into flats — you can just tap a virtual button and feel your heels sink closer to the earth. Sweet relief: there’s an app for that. However, the Zhor-Tech adjustable heels aren’t exactly elegant. They look like an exaggerated tap shoe, with a chunky metal stump protruding from the heel, and feel heavier than most normal pairs of heels.

 

Nokia-owned Withings, L’Oreal’s innovation lab and Kerastase, a high-end L’Oreal hair product brand, have just unveiled a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth-equipped hair brush that’s supposed to show you data on your hair-brushing habits and, in theory help you take better care of your hair. The high-tech hair brush has a microphone, so it can hear your hair-brushing patterns; an accelerometer and a gyroscope, commodity sensors that are supposed to analyze your brush strokes and patterns; load cells, otherwise known as transducers or sensors, that measure the pressure you’re applying to your hair; and conductivity sensors that are supposed to know whether you’re brushing dry or wet hair (shame on you). All of this data is shared wirelessly with a mobile app, of course.

The Uber Movement

On Sunday, the San Francisco-based company  launched on a new website called “Uber Movement,” the data includes “detailed historical insights [that] make it possible to measure the impact of road improvements, major events, new transit lines, and more.”

 

 

Study Reveal Uber Can Replace Taxis With less Cars

A new MIT study suggests that using carpooling options from companies like Uber and Lyft could reduce the number of vehicles on the road 75 percent without significantly impacting travel time.

The research team led by  Professor Daniela Rus of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), developed an algorithm that found that 3,000 four-passenger cars could serve 98 percent of taxi demand in New York City, with an average wait-time of only 2.7 minutes.

“Instead of transporting people one at a time, drivers could transport two to four people at once, results in fewer trips, in less time, to make the same amount of money,” says Rus, who wrote a related paper with former CSAIL postdoc Javier Alonso-Mora, assistant professor Samitha Samaranayake of Cornell University, PhD student Alex Wallar and MIT professor Emilio Frazzoli. “A system like this could allow drivers to work shorter shifts, while also creating less traffic, cleaner air and shorter, less stressful commutes.”

The MIT algorithm is more complex and improves over time, the study’s authors said. And despite the study’s conclusions, they say, it’s not meant to harm the taxi industry. In a phone interview, professor Daniela Rus of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) said the findings simply show a city’s transportation infrastructure could support fewer cars on the road at any given time.

According to their system, instead of working 12-hour shifts, you could work six- or eight-hour shifts. And you would make the same amount of money because it’s the same transportation need, it’s the same level of payment that flows through the system.

More Streaming Services for Less Bucks

SelectTV: Rather than a streaming service, SelectTV is a streaming aggregator. You can find movies and TV shows from all over the Internet

SeeSo: SeeSo is a comedy lover’s dream

Daily Burn: Daily Burn is a unique offering in the streaming world. Focusing on physical fitness, Daily Burn offers you the chance to stream thousands of workout videos.

Shudder TV: If you’re a horror fan, Shudder TV is a must-have. Like SeeSo is for comedy, Shudder has all you need if you’re a horror lover

 

 

Museums Are Making Visitor Experiences More Exciting

New technologies are making the museum visit more exciting. From 3-D scanning and 3-D printing, to virtual reality and special apps, these technologies are being applied in a multitude of ways. Still other technologies are being tested and developed as museums seek to ever broaden public access.

The American Museum of Natural History. Has a new app called Explorer. It uses hundreds of Bluetooth hotspots to navigate visitors around its halls to artifacts that may interest them the most.Whenever you raise your phone, the thing you’re immediately in front of is at the top of the app. The app can also customize your tour.

Some museums are already using the latest 3-D printing technology to make replicas of historical artifacts to give visitors a new way to interact with the object without damaging the original.

3-D scanning tools also allow for detailed analysis of fragile specimens.

An example of that is an exhibition traveling around the country called “Mummies: New Secrets From the Tombs” organized by Chicago’s Field Museum. It used a medical CT scanner to “unwrap” the mummies. Museum-goers can peek under the wrappings by manipulating large table-top computer scans placed alongside the delicate specimens to see their clothes, hairstyles and the jewelry they took to their graves.

7 Eleven Says It Used Drones For Delivery Before Amazon

7-Eleven would like to reminded the world that it had already completed 77 drone delivery flights a month before Amazon completed its first one last week. 7-Eleven’s unmanned aerial deliveries are powered by a startup called Flirtey, which bills itself as the “world’s leader in the drone delivery industry. 12 shoppers were invited to participate in a trial. They ordered items via a smartphone app for a drone to drop off at their houses, and the merchandise included everything from hot and cold food items to over-the-counter medicines. Deliveries were completed an average of less than less than 10 minutes after the orders were placed, Flirtey says. Instead of landing on the customer’s lawn or roof, the drones hovered in place while lowering their payloads to the buyers. The 77 delivery flights were completed on weekends in November, and the company intends to continue flying 7-Eleven deliveries in 2017.

Is Your Fitness Tracker & Other Devices Safe?

Identify theft, data leaks, discrimination from employers and increasing insurance costs are just some of the fallout predicted from the rise of wearable technology.
The use of trackers, smart watches, Internet-connected clothing, and other wearables becomes more widespread, and as their functionalities become even more sophisticated, the extent and nature of data collection will be unprecedented

These data can, in turn, be combined with personal information from other sources— including health-care providers and drug companies—raising such potential harms as discriminatory profiling, manipulative marketing, and data breaches.

According to the Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights in Washington DC records that there were 253 health-care breaches across the United States in 2015 that affected 500 individuals or more, resulting in a combined loss of over 112 million records.

‘The opportunities for data breaches will increase, with hackers accessing medical and health information at insurance companies, retail chains, and other businesses

 

Survivalist Apps

The Following survivalist Apps are said to get you out of serious situations. These are the apps you should keep installed in case of emergency.

Red Panic Button

You hit the panic button and a message goes out to the emergency contacts you’ve specified in advance, together with a link to your current location. The paid upgrade also enables emergency services calling capability.

Red Panic Button (freemium) for Android and iOS

First Aid by American Red Cross

This First Aid app can help, giving detailed guidance for all kinds of problems, from asthma to a heart attack, and you can also call up the address of the closest medical center from inside the app itself.You can call 911 from inside the app as well and access various other handy resources.

SafeTrek

You hold down the blue button if you feel vulnerable, then let go and enter a PIN when you’ve reached safety. If the PIN isn’t entered when the software button is released, then the app sends out an alert.The alert is sent to the local police who will be on their way using the location info provided by your phone—you don’t need to do anything else. The only downside is there’s a monthly subscription fee of $2.99 (or $29.99/year), but you can try it for free for 30 days.

SafeTrek ($2.99/month) for Android and iOS

FEMA

Life360 Family Locator

There’s a Panic Alert feature built into the app that will take care of messaging the friends and family you choose via voicemail, email and notifications if you should get into trouble. The people you alert will also be able to see your last known location on a map.

Life360 Family Locator (free) for Android and iOS

SAS Survival Guide

No matter what life throws at you, this app can help. Adapted from the book written by a British SAS instructor, it covers just about every scenario imaginable when it comes to survival, from the berries you can eat to the knots you need to tie to the dangers to look out for.

SAS Survival Guide ($5.99) for Android and iOS

 

 

Google Trips

 

The APP

Guess What! Google Play Has A Library

Google Play ‘s newest feature, the Family Library shares apps, TV shows and more across multiple accounts. This new feature for google play allows users to share their purchased TV shows, books, movies and apps to their family members or group of friends that works with a maximum of six accounts. Apple has released an identical feature for their iTunes app and contents from two years ago. Since google has finally done it, this is a great news for all android users.  Apple iTunes has a similar plan

Other Games Besides Pokemon Go

Geocaching’

Geocaching is an outdoor game app in which people use an app or a GPS device to discover hidden containers around the world. Yes, real containers, and some of them even contain small trinkets for trade.It’s like a  real-life treasure hunt

SpecTrek’

SpecTrek is an augmented reality ghost-hunting game in which users must walk or run to various locations to find virtual ghosts and “catch” them on their phone’s camera.

‘BallStrike’

BallStrike, users have to punch or kick a series of balls that appear all around them in their phones’ or tablets’ rear-facing cameras. The idea is for the user to twist and turn to hit each ball, making the ball explode.

Zombies, Run!’

Zombies, Run! is an immersive running game app in which gamers are tasked with surviving a zombie apocalypse. As gamers jog in real life, they can listen to scary story lines and sound effects of zombies chasing them. In fact, gamers have to speed up whenever a zombie is on their heels. The farther you run, the more supplies you collect to survive.

The Walk’

In The Walk, which was developed by the same team that created Zombies, Run!, the gamer must carry a package that could save the world to a mysterious destination.

As the player walks during the day, they get closer and get closer to the destination, while also unlocking immersive audio story clips along the way. The game takes three months to complete, which might be long enough to develop a new fitness habit.

Superhero Workout’

Superhero Workout was developed by the same creators of Zombies, Run! and The Walk. In the game, the user becomes the pilot of a battlesuit tasked with defending the world against alien forces. The game requires the user to complete real-world exercises, from abdominal crunches to arm punches, to defeat the aliens. The app uses motion detection to track progress.

 

Ringling Bros Circus Has A New App

Ringling Brothers Circus show “Out of This World” has a new app that you can download and become part of there circus through your smart phone. The app allows users to take a Circus Selfie, and apply photo filters so they can dress themselves up in circus-style gear. The app also brings you closer to the performers with the Meet The Performer tab. All of the performers on Out of This World are wearing costumes outfitted with speakers that emit an inaudible signal to a phone’s microphone. When picked up by a phone using the app, interactive information on the performer is provided.

View & download  here

Google Rolling Out Voter Registration Tool

Google  is rolling out a new search feature Today that aims to help users register to vote ahead of the November 2016 presidential election in the US. The company said that queries for the term “register to vote” will now return detailed descriptions on how to register in each US state, including requirements and deadlines.

Google has also introduced a search tool that will provide information on the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. When users search for either convention in the Google app, they will receive a summary of the event, information about the nominee, and a list of speakers, alongside related social media posts and a YouTube live stream video. The Republican National Convention will be held in Cleveland from July 18th to July 21st, while the Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia from July 25th to the 28th.

More On Pokemon GO

The Pokémon Go, which launched last Wednesday, has proved so popular that it has rocketed to the top of the Apple Store and helped boost the stock

However,Pokemon Go players are being lead into ambushes by robbers and even to the locations of dead bodies. The game — which leads players on a real-word scavenger hunt in which they can view Pokemon characters in virtual reality through their phone’s cameras — is causing some users to find trouble.In Missouri, a group of armed robbers lured eight players to one of the game’s Pokestops —

So far, there haven’t been any deaths or crimes related to Pokémon Go in New York City, many residents credited the game, which was created by Niantic and the Pokémon Company, with making them more social and helping them explore the city.

 

• Tell your kids about stranger-danger. The way that the game is designed can bring people together in the real world as they search for Pokemon in common areas called gyms and pokestops. Obviously, you never know who you could run into while playing.

• Set limits on where your kids can go. “Don’t leave the street/neighborhood without me” can limit the amount of strangers that you or your kids could encounter.

• Watch the road! I’ve already seen a number of people – both kids and adults – so engrossed while staring at their phones and following a map, that they’ve walked right into the street and into objects. Pay attention!

• And as always, if you run into an individual that is suspicious or  up to no good – don’t hesitate to dial 911!

 

Pokemon Go & Muggers

 

The city of O’Fallon, Missouri’s police department made a statement on Sunday morning confirming that a group of four armed men had used the app to lure victims to a specific place, at which point they mugged the unknowing Pokémon Go players. About eight or nine people were targeted by these muggings in all.

Pokémon Go requires that its players walk to a nearly exact point in the real world—whose required distance can vary based on your smartphone and its GPS signal—to interact with its major systems, which include battle-loaded Gyms and item-granting Pokéstops. In addition, players can use items, either found in the game or purchased with real-world money, to sweeten a Pokéstop so that it attracts more collectible (and lucrative) Pokémon monsters. O’Fallon’s police department went so far as to clarify that this very thing happened in the case of these reported muggings: “You can add a beacon to a Pokéstop to lure more players. Apparently [the muggers] were using the app to locate people standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other location they were in.

The statement also included a warning: “If you use this app (or other similar type apps) or have children that do, we ask you to please use caution when alerting strangers of your future location.”

Niantic, the app developers behind Pokémon Go, has attracted negative attention for its precise-GPS requirements in the past, as opposed to its apps allowing players to simply be near a real-life location in the game. In particular, its warring-faction game Ingress was criticized by US military representatives in 2014 since it sometimes required players to drive up to restricted military buildings and bases to claim that game’s territories.

With Pokémon Go‘s popularity already surging past Ingress‘s peak, we can only imagine seeing more negative stories about a video game’s use of real-life locations—especially one with such a “kid-friendly” franchise as Pokémon involved. (For example, on Sunday, The Independent reported on issues with loitering that the app has already attracted for some homeowners. A man  woke up to find that the hugely popular augmented reality game had decided that his house was one of the game’s important gyms. That means that people are rewarded for coming to it in real life – resulting in what he said was dozens of people outside his door.

Teen Comes Across Dead Body With Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go, along with its growing popularity is a steady stream of bizarre news stories and personal anecdotes of near-death experiences. First there was the Australian police warning users not to physically enter the police station when collecting items, and earlier today Washington’s Department of Transportation warned against “pokemoning” while driving. The mobile game is also filling up with reports of personal injury incurred while exploring the real world for digital creatures.

Now, a teenager has discovered a dead body floating in her hometown river. Shayla Wiggins, a 19-year-old Riverton, Wyoming resident, discovered a man floating in the Wind River early this morning when trying to catch pokémon from a “natural water resource,” she told KTVQ.com. Wiggins called 911 and local police arrived on the scene to retrieve the body. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the discovery in a press release given to The Verge. It notably excludes the phrase “Pokémon Go”:

The death appeared to be accidental in nature and possibly that of a drowning. There is no evidence at this time that would indicate foul play. Evidence located at the scene has led investigators to believe the man went into the water at the location he was found. The body was located in about three feet of water on the east side of the Wind River Bridge

 

Beware! There are Apps That Can Hack Your Twiiter Account

I wont mention who but there are Apps that can be downloaded and are able to hack your twitter account

France’s Terrorism Alert App

The official SAIP (système d’alerte et d’information des populations) app from the French authorities is a new hub that can alert users of any potential exceptional events or terror attacks that may occur. The app is available for both Android and iOS. Highly recommended when traveling to France.

The app is in both French and English, depending on your preference. With the SAIP app installed, it will alert the users as to when they should be within or enter an at-risk zone. It’s also possible to set up to 8 cities to receive notifications should events trigger in one of them. Advice and instructions will be provided for the alert that may be shown.The government said the app was developed after November’s attacks in Paris. The country remains on high alert, especially with the upcoming Euro 2016 football tournament. You can download the SAIP app for Android from the Google Play Store.

Google’s Latest App Is At A Standoff With FBI

Google announced that its new messaging app, Allo, would feature an “incognito mode” that offered end-to-end encryption. Such technology can make it difficult for law enforcement to recover messages during investigations even if they have a warrant. In Washington DC, the FBI director, James Comey, has lobbied the administration to put restrictions on such technology. Other apps with encryption include Apple’s iMessage  and Facebook’s WhatsApp.

The timing of Google’s app is  of importance. The release comes just months after Apple’s high-profile court battle with the US government over encryption built into its iPhones. The FBI had wanted Apple to rewrite the software on a phone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters to help it retrieve data. Apple refused, and the bureau said it eventually found another way into the phone.

Delta Airlines Has An App To Track Baggage

• Delta Airlines is rolling out Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) bag tags
• It’s the first US carrier to use the technology to track passenger luggage
• An app function will be available by end of 2016 to let you track your bags 

The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology will replace the existing barcode and hand scanning procedure that’s been since the early 90s. The app will allow end users to track their bags at every stage of its journey, from check-in to baggage belt.

Video

 

 

Wearables & Health

The Nissan leaf & It’s App

One of the pros of having an electric vehicle is that its massive batteries allow it to do stuff for you even while the engine is off. Like, you can turn on the heat or the air conditioning in advance to make the car habitable before you need to use it. Unfortunately, if you’ve owned a Nissan Leaf for more than a week, anyone else could potentially have turned your heat or A/C on and off as well, thanks to a gaping security hole that turned a VIN number into an all-access pass to a vehicle’s climate control and historical trip info.Security researchers Troy Hunt and  Scott Helme, acting on a tip from an online forum, confirmed that when a Leaf interfaces with the NissanConnect app through one of Nissan’s servers, information is provided about the state of any vehicle that you have a VIN number for. Essentially, the API allows you to ask, “what is the status of the battery of the Nissan Leaf with VIN number X,” and it’ll return an answer, without any verification, they wrote in a blog post. You can get battery and charging information, climate control status, and even details about past trips that the car has taken.  While the climate control is programmed to turn itself off after 15 minutes when the car is unplugged, there’s nothing stopping the API from sending multiple commands over and over. You could park your car somewhere, and come back several hours later to a blasting A/C and a nearly dead battery. The company disabled the NissanConnect app soonafter.

Ready To Throw Out an Electronic?

 

Before you do…….vist Microsoft ‘s Safe & Security Center

 

Peach

 

 

Another Messaging APP

 

PEACH

WhatsApp Outage on New Years

 

WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp was down on New Years eve The outage was focused mostly in Western Europe & the UK followed by some regions of the United States. The Facebook App boast about a billion people using WhatsApp

Uber Takes Down ——-trip.uber.com

Uber has taken down the searchable database people found at “trip.uber.com,” which contained details of trips people unknowingly made public by using the “Share your ETA” feature. That’s one of the app’s functions that sends a link with all pertinent details to chosen contacts. Since it could very useful, instead, Uber has decided to tweak the system so that all links get expired after 48 hours. The flaw was first discovered by ZDnet.

When searching “trip.uber.com” in Google, a list of past trips would appear in the search results.These trips are shared by the user from the mobile app, allowing others to track their current location, and other information associated with the ride — including the driver’s name, and car registration — from a single link. These trips go back as far as 2013, and include trips from the US, UK, Russia, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines — data and information that remains online and accessible even today.

The 53rd New York Film Festival Convergence will run September 26-27 and delve into the world of immersive storytelling with a mix of unique films, panels, and live interactive experiences.

The (Dis)Honesty Project Presents The Truth Box

Tell The Truth About A Lie—- The Truth Box is a traveling story booth and part of the larger (Dis)Honesty Project, a collaboration between behavioral scientist Dan Ariely and filmmaker Yael Melamede that aims to improve our behavior and ethics. The Truth Box explores the complex impact dishonesty has on our lives, asking participants to sit inside and come clean, on camera, about a lie they have told.

The Doghouse

A table is set for five, and on each plate rests a virtual-reality headset. Slipping them on plunges the viewer into a fully immersive experience—one of five unique points of view within the same film. Mom and Dad are meeting the older brother’s new girlfriend for the first time while the younger brother just tries to avoid an inevitable disaster. A 360 degree experience

Gamescape

Some of the most compelling stories being told today are coming from game designers blending sharp narrative and gameplay in new and exciting ways. This selection of gripping, engaging, storytelling games was co-curated by the NYU Game Center and is free and open to the public. Presented with Support from the NYU Game Center.

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things

Participants attempt to solve a string of crimes unfolding throughout Lincoln Center. Do you have what it takes to become a 21st-century Sherlock Holmes? A prototype developed and run by the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab, Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things is part of a massive connected crime scene taking place in over 20 countries this fall. For more information, visit sherlockholmes.io. Presented in partnership with the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab.

View More

More here

Target Launches Bluetooth Pilot In 50 Stores

Target has recently announced that it is implementing a pilot beacon program in 50 of its stores. These beacons will send push notifications to shoppers phones whenever they browse within range of the device, similar to the Tips system that Facebook is working on. To prevent this system from spamming customers, Target is requiring that shoppers first download and install the Target iOS app (an Android version is in development), then actively opt-in to receive the notifications. Moreover, the system is designed to push a maximum of just two notifications per shopping trip with the rest of the deals appearing in the app itself. Whereas customers can get the maximum number of deals without becoming overwhelmed. Stores in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle have all been selected to participate. Target will reportedly use data gathered from this pilot to fine tune the program ahead of a nationwide rollout around the Holidays.