Philips launches personal app to measure heart rate and breathing rate

Philips launches a personal App for iPad 2 that measures your heart rate and breathing rate remotely, simply by using the iPad 2 camera. This breakthrough technology allows people to measure heart and breathing rates in an easy and unobtrusive way at home. The App can be downloaded from the App Store.
How it works
Your heartbeat causes small changes in the color of your face. These changes are not visible to the eye, but with advanced software the iPad 2 camera detects these ‘micro-blushes’ to measure your heart rate. When you breathe, your chest moves up and down. With advanced software, the iPad 2 camera tracks the movement of your chest to measure your breathing rate.
The App offers iPad 2 users the possibility of simply measuring their heart rate and breathing rate in the comfort of their home*. The App offers the option to immediately share your results via Facebook, Twitter or e-mail.
Philips has been developing this camera technology for three years. Although the concept is simple, calculating multiple parameters, such as heart rate and breathing rate, from real time video images is a major technical challenge. Philips has been able to overcome these challenges by using advanced algorithms and draws on its deep in-house expertise in optics, video and signal processing. Philips is making this technology available for licensing in selected application domains.

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IOS 5 Release Date: New Operating System for iPad, iPhone

Scott Forstall, senior vice president in charge of iPhone software for Apple Inc., speaks about the features of Apple's new ios 5 operating system in Cupertino, California, Oct. 4, 2011. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

If you're reading this story on your iPad or iPhone, perhaps searching for "iOS 5 release date," well -- it's now, says Apple.
Apple has reinvented its operating system, promising 200 new features, and, in the process, changing the way users relate to the online world.
Steve Jobs, in his last public appearance in June, announced the advent of iCloud, a system that allows Apple users to store the things they need -- from messages to music, documents to downloads -- on Apple's own servers in the so-called "cloud" of the Internet. Gone are the days when you stored something on the hard drive of your laptop, and were frustrated when you needed it but didn't have it with you.
Notification Center: Think of the torrent of messages you get every day -- emails, texts, Facebook friend requests, reminders to get a haircut -- and think of all the places you need to go to read them. Apple has combined them in one list.
iMessage: Cellular carriers, stand warned. Verizon Wireless, AT&T and their competitors have been charging a mint for data transmission, when it's estimated the average text message costs them a third of a cent to send. Apple -- even as it uses them for the iPhone 4S rollout -- goes around them. If you're in a place with Wi-Fi, your text goes by Wi-Fi. If it needs to go over the 3G network, also good.
A new "reader" feature for the Safari web browser: This applies particularly to the handheld iPhone and iPod, which are awfully small if you want to read a book on one of them. The reader feature gets rid of some of the extra stuff on your screen -- ads, browser tabs, etc. -- so there's more space for what you actually want to read.
Twitter: In keeping with Apple's seamless design, tweeting is something you can do while you're doing anything else on the device.
Photos: In keeping with Apple's seamless design, taking a picture is something you can do while you're doing anything else on the device.
The number of clicks and swipes you need to make to do different things will be greatly reduced. Truth be told, many of these features already existed in apps made for Apple by outside developers, and versions can be found on Google's Android devices. But Apple's now put them in one place.
How to get iOS 5? Plug your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into your computer with a USB cable. Launch iTunes, and then find the icon for your device on the left side of the screen and click on it. A box will appear, saying "Version." Click where it says "Check for Update" and then follow directions.

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Weird Gadgets/Google Wallet?

Smartphones are in the process of replacing cameras, phonebooks, land lines and maps ... and wallets are next. First announced in May but just launched today, the Google Wallet free app allows its users to store electronic versions of their credit cards on their smartphone, and pay for items simply by tapping their phone on a near field communication (NFC) reader at a store's front counter.

A number of retailers, along with one financial institution and one carrier are on board, and so far Google Wallet is compatible with the Citi Master Card along with Google Prepaid Cards, that can be "loaded" using any existing credit card. Currently it only works with Google's Nexus S 4G phone, on the Sprint network. Needless to say, the number of cards, devices and networks is expected to grow soon.

It can be put to use at merchants that display a MasterCard PayPass symbol at their till. Users simply enter their PIN on their phone, tap the device on the merchant's NFC reader, and the payment is electronically made. At some retailers, electronic coupons and loyalty points will also be passed along. Participating businesses can be found using the MasterCard PayPass Locator for Android app.

Special Google Offers will also be made available to users, and will automatically sync with their Wallet.

Down the road, Google would also like to see the Wallet containing things such as gift cards, tickets, boarding passes, and even electronic house keys. Google Wallet can be downloaded now, free of charge.

Other companies that have experimented with similar payment technology have included Orange, SIMlink, SAGEM, and Visa.

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Google to debut Dart, a new language for the Web

Google's at it again with a new programming language, this one called Dart.

In 2009, Google launched Go, a language designed for writing server software and handling other chores often handled today by C or C++. Dart, though, is "a new programming language for structured Web programming," according to the schedule for the Goto conference where Googlers plan to describe it next month.

There are two Dart presenters. First is Gilad Bracha, who created the Newspeak programming language that just reached version 3. He also was co-author of the Java Language Specification and worked at SAP Labs, Cadence, and Sun Microsystems.

Second is Lars Bak, who led the team that built the Chrome browser's V8 engine. V8 was built in Aarhus, Denmark, where the Goto conference will take place in October. Bak has a particular specialty in virtual machines, software foundations that act like computers that run higher-level languages.

It's tough to design new programming languages and tougher to get them established. The payoff, though, can take several forms: higher programmer productivity, software that runs more efficiently, hardware features that can be tapped.

The interesting thing about Google is that it has enough programmers on staff creating enough in-house software that the company can single-handedly make a programming language at least somewhat relevant. And because it's got such a vast computing infrastructure, anything that increases the efficiency of power consumption, or improves the flexibility of the computing foundation, can pay off directly in lower electricity bills and higher reliability.

In other words, even the very academic subject of programming languages can be a very practical activity at Google.

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