Apple wearable tech provides reliable heart rate data, says new study

Julie Campbell
Apple wearable tech - Heart monitor

Preliminary results show that the Apple Watch offered feedback doctors and hospitals can use. A new preliminary study on Apple wearable tech showed that the device provides positive results in patient heart rate monitoring during everyday activities. The research was conducted for the Apple joint Heart Study with the School of Medicine at Stanford University. These promising results could change the way doctors monitor patent vitals when they leave the hospital. The accuracy of the feedback offered by Apple wearable tech could bring the Internet of Things into patient monitoring…

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The long-rumored Instagram in-app shopping feature has finally arrived

L. Green
Instagram in-app shopping - Checkout - Instagram - YouTube

Checkout is the social media platform’s new feature that allows in-app shopping purchases. Instagram in-app shopping is now a real thing. The Facebook-owned photo and video-sharing social networking service has unveiled Checkout, a new feature that allows users to make purchases directly inside the app without being redirected to another site to complete the purchase. Shopping via Instagram (IG) is nothing new, but now users don’t have to leave the app to complete purchases. To be clear, the new Instagram in-app shopping feature does not mark the first time that…

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Mobile phone ban to go into effect in Canadian province at start of new school year

Amanda Giasson
Mobile Phone Ban - Mobile Phone - Math

The Ontario Government plans to ban cellphone use in the province’s classrooms. Ontario, Canada’s largest province by population, has made headlines after news broke that its government will reportedly be placing a mobile phone ban in Ontario classrooms. The ban will go into effect for the 2019-2020 school year. Although a formal announcement regarding the province-wide mobile phone ban in classrooms has yet to be made, government sources informed the Canadian Press that the province will issue a directive to all public schools for the 2019-2020 school year, which begins…

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Huawei develops its own operating system in case of Android OS ban

Sam Lambert
Android OS ban - Huawei smartphone

Building its own PC and smartphone operating system (OS) is part of the company’s backup plan. Huawei, the Chinese multinational telecommunications company, has announced a contingency plan in the event it faces an Android OS ban. Huawei has revealed that it has built its own operating system for its PC and mobile products. Huawei fears that it may face a similar punishment as its rival ZTE. Increasing trade tension between the China and the US coupled with the mounting legal problems Huawei is facing in the United States has bolstered…

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Facebook payments to come to WhatsApp in the future

Jennifer Goula
Facebook Payments - Facebook logo on mobile phones

The social media giant is reportedly seeking to enter the mobile payments space with its own cryptocurrency. Facebook payments may be around in the not too distant future. The social networking company is jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon and is reportedly developing its own digital currency called Facebook Coin. The company’s supposed goal, reports CNBC, is to allow users of its cryptocurrency to transfer money through WhatsApp. Facebook’s move would mimic China’s popular WeChat Pay. The Facebook Coin, which would be attached to the US dollar, and would allow users…

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Android Q introduces Wi-Fi sharing with QR codes

Jorge Gonzalez
Android Q - Password Mobile Phone

Now friends can share their Wi-Fi network password even easier with quick response codes. Android Q is the next version of Google’s mobile operating system and Pixel users recently got to try its beta version, which has a number of new features. One of these features is the option to send friends a QR code instead of a password to engage in Wi-Fi sharing. The new system has been equipped with features to enhance privacy and security. Android Q has been designed with several new features to improve user experience.…

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Harry Potter mobile game officially announced by Niantic

Amanda Giasson
Harry Potter mobile Game - Harry Potter Music Box

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite set to be the next Pokémon Go craze Niantic, the game studio behind 2016’s AR mobile game phenomenon Pokémon Go, has officially announced its upcoming Harry Potter mobile game – Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, in partnership with Warner Bros. Players will be tasked with finding magic Foundables. The game is said to be similar to Pokémon Go, in that it uses the same augmented reality (AR) principals allowing players to explore the real world to find collectables. That being said, instead of collecting pokémon creatures, players…

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Retail mobile security breaches double in 2018, report

Jesse Collins
Retail mobile security - cyber attack mobile

Retailers saw two times more security breaches involving mobile devices between 2017 and 2018. A recent study published by the Verizon Mobile Security Index has revealed retail mobile security breaches are increasing. According to the study, 31% of retail respondents said they experienced a mobile compromise last year (2018), which is notably higher from the 16% reported in 2017. More than half of these security breaches were considered major. Over half (54%) of these retail mobile security compromises were considered major. Moreover, 27% had long-term repercussions. The study found that…

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Nokia 9 PureView unveiling reveals smartphone with five rear cameras

John Montgallo
Nokia 9 PureView - Nokia YouTube

The new Nokia phone is the first to take photos with five cameras. The Nokia 9 PureView was among the highly anticipated smartphones launched during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tradeshow in Barcelona. HMD Global, the Finish-based company that owns the Nokia brand, showed off the new smartphone, which features no less than five rear cameras – a world first. The phone has been designed with camera enthusiasts in mind. Nokia’s new phone isn’t following the latest foldable phones trend as the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei…

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Amazon mobile payments system to roll out in Mexico

L. Green
Amazon mobile payments- Mexican Flag

The new mobile payments system will allow Amazon customers to pay via QR code. The e-Commerce giant is working with Mexico’s government-backed central bank on an Amazon mobile payments system. The system will reportedly enable customers to pay for goods using their smartphone to scan a quick response (QR) code. The new payments program is called CoDi. The Amazon mobile payments system is known as CoDi and it will be the first time that Amazon has offered this type of scanning tech in Mexico. The hope is that by introducing…

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NFC Forum introduces NFC payments solution alternative to QR codes.

Stephanie Beck
NFC payments - woman with Android phone

NFC Money Transfer Candidate Specification allows for simple and secure NFC-based payment solutions. The NFC Forum, a Massachusetts-based non-profit industry association and advocate of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology has launched an NFC payments solution. The solution, known as the NFC Money Transfer Candidate Specification (NMT) has been designed as an alternative to QR code-based payments that gives payment service providers and consumers the chance to take advantage of simple and secure NFC-based payment systems that already exist worldwide. The NMT solution eliminates the need for a camera or a…

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