Alexa Smart Speaker as Heart Monitor; Apple Cuts iPhone Mini Production; Twitter Possible Fix For Bad Image Cropping; TikTok-New Tools for ‘Unkind’ & ‘Inappropriate’ Comments

Researchers at the University of Washington have managed to turn one of Amazon’s Alexa smart speakers into a heartbeat monitor. Geekwire.com reports that they figured out a way to use machine learning algorithms to make an Alexa powered speaker into a sensitive medical device that can detect irregular heartbeats. They have also been able to get the result with a Google Home speaker. The smart speakers send out an inaudible sound that bounces of a person’s chest, and back to the device, where it can pick up uneven cardiac rhythm, which can indicate strokes or sleep apnea. Privacy advocates often raise concerns about the ability of smart speakers to listen in on people and collect personal information. This new skill does not use frequencies that have audible data, helping preserve privacy. It also works in a limited range, only monitoring someone within a couple of feet of the device.

Apple has slashed iPhone 12 Mini production due to ‘far lower’ demand for the pint-sized iPhone. According to macrumors.com, Apple is cutting production for all iPhones by about 20%….but the lion’s share of the cuts are for the Mini. Even with the cuts, Apple’s overall iPhone production and sales are running a bit ahead of last year at this time. Demand remains pretty strong for the top of line iPhone 12 models, with Apple expecting to make over 75 million iPhones in the first half of this year. Most Apple watchers think Apple will still make a Mini next year. 

Twitter has come up with a solution of sorts to its less than good image cropping…NO cropping! Theverge.com notes that the image preview in the compose box will be the final result. Twitter says this will make images ‘bigger and better.’ The platform is also testing 4K uploading on iOS and Android in order to improve how users share and others view media on it. Twitter has not said when this change might go live for everyone on the platform. 

TikTok has unveiled new features to rein in ‘unkind’ and ‘inappropriate’ comments. The features remind users about community guidelines but also allows creators to ‘filter’ their comments. You can filter all comments, which enlarges on filtering spam, by key words, and now ‘offensive comments.’ Businessinsider.com reports that besides the creator side, when users try to leave a comment the app sees a ‘unkind’ or ‘inappropriate’, it will prompt them to edit or delete their post, and will remind them of TikTok’s community guidelines. The changes were made in partnership with the Cyberbullying Research Center. 

Amazon Expands Palm Payment Tech; SpaceX- Starlink for Vehicles; Dropbox Picks up DocSend; Apple iPad & AirTag Event March 23rd?

Amazon is adding more stores to its Amazon One palm scanning payment tech. Theverge.com reports that the 4-star store in Lynnwood has gotten it, and Amazon Books in Bellevue will get it in the next few weeks, as will the 4-star and Pop Up locations in Lake Union. There should be 12 physical Amazon stores with the palm payment tech before the start of summer. It works by marking the surface area details and vein patterns. It’s expected that as the Amazon locations are added, the company will be rolled out to other retail outlets. It could also be used in office buildings that still use NFC ID tags. 

SpaceX has officially asked the FCC for approval to start deploying Starlink satellite broadband to passenger cars and other moving vehicles. According to arstechnica.com, it could not only be used for cars and trucks, but also ships and aircraft. In their statement to the FCC, SpaceX said “Granting this application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based components for SpaceX’s satellite system that will expand the range of broadband capabilities available to moving vehicles throughout the United States and to moving vessels and aircraft worldwide.” They note that internet users are not willing at this point to do without internet connections while moving.

Dropbox is snapping up document sharing startup DocSend for $165 million. Techcrunch.com says DocSend helps customers share and track documents by sending a secure link instead of an attachment. Combined with the electronic signature capability of HelloSign, which Dropbox acquired in 2019, the acquisition gives the company an end-to-end document sharing workflow it had been missing. DocSend’s some 50 employees will be joining Dropbox when the deal closes.

Several leakers have touted March 23rd as the date of the next Apple event. According to 9to5mac.com, the major suspects for new rollout are updated iPad Pro and AirPods, and the long delayed AirTags. There could also be a refresh of Apple TV. Although the iMac Pro was just discontinued, it seems unlikely to be replaced at this point. Apple will probably do that in the fall when it expands the range of computers using their new, in-house chip..the M1 family. 

Coronavirus Drug Might Cure COVID-19; Apple-AR/VR Headset in 2022, AR Glasses by 2025; Galaxy Watch 4 in Q2; Saudis Pump Billions into Hydrogen Fuel Production

It’s all about the vaccines right now, but a team at Georgia State had announced in December a promising study of a drug called molnupiravir, an oral antiviral which totally blocked virus transmission within 24 hours in ferrets. Bgr.com reports that now, the drug…developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics…has been studied in humans and preliminary conclusions in a Phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial are out. The drug cured infections from the novel coronavirus in only five days. Full conclusions haven’t been released, but this could be a pretty promising development. We’ll stay tuned!

Well-reputed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says a lot is in the pipeline revolving around AR and VR from Apple. According to macrumors.com, he looks for a mixed reality headset in mid 2022, and augmented reality glasses by 2025. The AR/VR goggles are expected to be 100-200 grams…notably less than most of the headsets out right now. Expect the price to be around that of a high end iPhone…around $1000. Kuo says they will be ‘portable,’ but not truly mobile. That seems to mean they will have their own processors and memory, but may depend on an external battery pack, etc. The glasses are expected to tightly integrate with the Apple Car. Looking way of in the future, Apple is apparently experimenting with AR contact lenses sometime after 2030! Kuo says this will take us from ‘visible computing’ to ‘invisible computing!’

Although Apple has a giant share of the smart watch market, never write off muscular player Samsung, which also has a huge footprint in smartphones. 9to5google.com says a Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch Active 4 should be out in the next few months…likely by June of this year. One major feature Samsung is working on…as is Apple….blood glucose monitoring! Also rumored…Samsung may drop Tizen and switch to Android or even Wear OS. 

Saudi Arabia can see the writing on the wall, with most auto manufacturers in high gear now as far as switching to electric vehicles. Bloomberg.com reports that the kingdom is investing a $5 billion plant powered entirely by sun and wind that will be among the world’s biggest green hydrogen makers. It is located in the planned megacity of Neom, and projected to open in 2025. Hydrogen is expected to be a big piece of the move away from fossil fuels, and it appears the Saudis are determined to have a large piece of this market as the oil market shrinks. 

Fitbit Charge 4 Update- SpO2 Right on Device; Google Promises Not to Keep Tracking You After Dropping Cookies; Amazon GameOn Screen Recording App to iOS; Tesla Gives Up LA Restaurant Scheme-Will Become Biggest Supercharger Site

Fitbit has started rolling out a firmware update for the Charge 4 that will allow it to estimate your blood oxygen saturation level (Sp02) while you sleep. Up to now, you had to use the mobile app to check and estimate of this, but now it will be available right on your wrist. After a night’s sleep, swipe up from the clock face until you see an SpO2 tile displayed alongside other stats. Note that Version 1.100.34 is a phased rollout, and may not be available for you yet. When it is available for your Charge 4, a banner will appear at the top of the iOS or Android app.

Google is slowly phasing out third party cookies, and they now say they promise not to replace them with something equally invasive…in spite of the financial impact the move will make on their highly profitable ad business. According to theverge.com, the online giant put out a blog post where Google explicitly states that it “will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web” after the third-party cookies are gone. “Instead, our web products will be powered by privacy-preserving APIs which prevent individual tracking while still delivering results for advertisers and publishers,” writes Google. “Advances in aggregation, anonymization, on-device processing and other privacy-preserving technologies offer a clear path to replacing individual identifiers.” Time will tell if they live up to ‘don’t be evil’ on this one!

Last November, Amazon released GameOn on Android. It’s an app for recording short, sharable clips from your favorite mobile games. Now, engadget.com says you can download the app for your iOS device as well. The app presently works for over 1,000 mobile games, and the clips can run from 30 seconds to 5 minutes in length. You can even edit the clips or add in live commentary. The clips are potable to Facebook, Twitter, et al.

Tesla had been considering a drive-in restaurant in LA, but that idea is dead. Now, they plan to use the location for the biggest Supercharge V3 station in the world. Electrek.co notes that Elon Musk wanted to build an “old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in Los Angeles.” They plan to open the charging station in the third quarter. It will have 62 charging stations (and rest rooms…like most gas stations.) 

Spotify Poised To Pass Up Apple Podcasts; Twitter Unveils 5-Strike System Banning Users Who Lie About Covid-19; Microsoft Adding Encryption to One-to-One Teams Calls; Hyzon Motors- Hydrogen Fuel Cells from US Plants

Apple has been a big place to be for Podcasts, but it’ looking like Spotify is gaining on them. According to 9to5mac.com, the audio platform may be close to passing up Apple in monthly US podcast listenership. Spotify blew past Apple in 2019 in Europe, India, and South America, but Apple has continued to be king of the hill in the US. eMarketer forecasts that Spotify monthly podcast listenership in the US will hit 28.2 million, beating Apple’s 28 million. That’s not all…they predict that in the next 2 years, Spotify will grow to 37.5 million, while Apple stalls out at 28.8 million.

It may be late to the party, but still a welcome move. Twitter is starting up a 5-strike system today, that will ultimately result in banning users that spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines and the pandemic. Gizmodo.com reports that Twitter will ban all medical info that’s “demonstrably false or misleading and may lead to significant risk of harm.”  This new policy comes after a Twitter announcement the end of the year that it would take action to ‘protect the public conversation around Covid-19. 

Twitter’s five-strike policy will be enforced starting today, as the company explains:

• One strike: no account-level action
• Two strikes: 12-hour account lock
• Three strikes: 12-hour account lock
• Four strikes: 7-day account lock
• Five or more strikes: permanent suspension

In an announcement on the 1st day of Microsoft’s virtual Ignite Spring 2 event, they revealed a new-channel sharing feature coming to Teams later this year. It’s called Teams Connect, and allows users to hare channels with anyone…internal or external…to one’s organization. Zdnet.com notes that Teams will also now support end-to-end encryption for one-to-one Teams calls. Also, more came out on ‘Teams Pro.’ Users can organize webinars for those inside and outside an organization of up to 1,000 attendees. 

All the buzz is on EVs…electric vehicles (or BEVs…battery electric, if you insist), but the push for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles has not slowed. According to TechCrunch.com, Hyzon Motors will produce fuel cells at two US factories, in a move to jumpstart domestic production at a commercial scale. Hyzon is a new name, but has spun off from Singapore’s Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies…which has been developing fuel cell tech since 2003. They are already in Asia and Europe. Although focused on heavy vehicles like trucks for now, Hyzon thinks we will see more and more hydrogen vehicles in the car sector. There are already a handful on the road. 

Some 2022 iPhones Lose ‘Notch;’ Frontline Worker Tier for Google Workspace; Biden Weighs in On Amazon v. Union; Gab- Big Hack

It has been hated and criticized by reviewers since full screen iPhones came into being, and lost the ‘chin’ and ‘forehead’ spaces….I’m talking about the dreaded (by many) ‘notch’…the black stripe taking up about 3/4 of the top eighth inch of an iPhone screen. Now, according to macrumors.com, it may go away for some iPhones in 2022. A leak from highly reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the Apple handsets will get a ‘punch-hole’ type design instead. Samsung’s recent top line Galaxy smartphones hardy have such a setup. Right now, it looks like only the top iPhones will get the hole punch screen…although Kuo noted that if production yields are good enough, the format may be extended to the entire 2022 iPhone line. 

A new frontline worker tier is coming to Google Workspace…formerly G Suite. 9to5google.com reports that it is called simply ‘Workspace Frontline,’ and its aimed at nurses, grocery store associates, and warehouse worker. It should be out in the comping weeks. Also coming in the next few weeks- Chat, Jamboard, and Calendar will be hitting the entry-level Workspace Essentials Offering.

President Biden issued a statement in the run up to the vote by workers at the Amazon warehouse in Besemer, Ala. Geekwire.com says that, in light of the continuing, relentless campaign by Amazon to keep workers from unionizing, the president put out this statement: “It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union,” Biden said. “But let me be even more clear. It’s not up to an employer to decide that, either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers — full stop. Full stop.”

Without mentioning Amazon by name, he added, “Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace.”

He called it a “vitally important choice” amid the pandemic, economic crisis, and a racial reckoning highlighting the county’s deep disparities. “And there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no anti-union propaganda. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences,” he said.

Gab, the far right platform a lot of former Twitter users went to after Trump was banned…and then former Parler users jumped to after THAT platform was hacked, has been….you guessed it…hacked. Badly. According to wired.com, transparency group DDoSecrets says it will make the 70 GB of passwords, private posts, and more available to researchers, journalists, and social scientists. Seventy gigs! Included are some 40 million private posts. The hack apparently includes everything on Gab. DDoSecrets has refused to release all the info publicly due to the sensitivity of the info and vast amount of private info. 

Twitter Announces Super Follows-Can Charge for Tweets; Spotify Rolls Out Genre and Mood Filters; Biden Signs Order Re Chip Shortage; iMacs May Revert to Multi-Color Cases

Twitter has announced a couple of new features. One is called ’Super Follows’, and gives the ability for users to charge their followers for access to additional content, and the other allows the ability to creat and join groups based around particular interests. Twitter used an example where a user charges $4.99 a month for followers to get a series of perks. Twitter positions this as a way to let creators and publishers to get paid directly by their fans. You can expect Twitter to skim off a cut…just like every other platform that allows for payments from fans. The second feature is Communities, which smells a lot like Facebook Groups. People can create and join groups based on shared interests…cats, cars, plants, affiliations like schools, etc. No date has been set for when the features will actually be released as yet. 

Spotify has unveiled a couple of new filters that make it easier to find and locate music you like. They are available to both free users and Premium subscribers. According to 9to5mac.com, the Genre and Mood filters will allow up to 15 personalized options to sort your ‘Liked Songs,’ which will then allow you to play the sort of mix you are wanting at a particular moment. The filters started rolling out today, and should be everywhere in the next few weeks. 

President Biden signed an executive order yesterday that hopes to address the worldwide chip shortage, which is snow causing auto makers to cut production, among other industries who are having to pare back. CNBC.com says the order calls for a 100 day review of key products like semiconductors and advanced batteries used in EVs. The goal is to strengthen supply chains and to make the US less dependent on overseas production of critical items…not only manufactured devices as above, but also the rare earths used in many electronic devices. 

It may be back to the future for Apple’s upcoming iMac refresh. Macrumors.com reports that leaker Jon Prosser claims that there will be 5 color options…echoing the original iMacs. The colors will be Silver, Space Gray, Green, Sky Blue, and Rose gold. The upcoming iMacs are expected to have slimmer bezels and run on Apple’s own new silicon chips. Also, Prosser says a version of the Mac Pro will look like 3 or 4 Mac Minis stacked on top o each other. The Mac Pro will supposedly have the ‘compute unit on the bottom’ and a ‘big heat sink’ on top.

Spotify HiFi; Consumer Reports ‘Green Choice’ for Vehicles; Apple Top Smartphone Maker Again; Google Drops Political Ad Ban

Spotify is going ‘HiFi.’ The streaming giant is playing catch up on this with Tidal and amazon Music. Nonetheless, the new lossless streaming ether will allow listeners to get the most out of their digital music library. According to theverge.com, Spotify HiFi will be available later this year, and will feature CD quality, lossless audio. Pricing has not yet been announced. Amazon charges $12.99 a month fort their lossless music if you have Prime, $14.99 otherwise. Tidal gets a princely $19.99 a month. Tidal also offers a Master Quality Audio tier that goes up to 96kHz/24 bit. Apple Music has yet to roll out lossless music on stream, although downloads through Apple Music use the Apple Lossless format. 

Major auto makers are gearing up to go electric…or at least hybrid…across much or all of their fleets. Now, Consumer Reports will begin grading vehicles according to their environmental impact. Arstechnica.com reports that CR has launched a new ‘green choice’ rating, which is indicated by a green leaf icon. The idea is to help buyers quickly identify vehicles with the best fuel efficiency and lowest contribution to atmospheric CO2 levels and smog formation. A CS survey last month showed that nearly half of buyers will use emission info to help them make their buying choice. CS says that right now, some 20% of the cars they rate qualify as green choices based on EPA data. the 4 top green picks right now out of CR’s top 10 recommended cars: Toyota Prius, Corolla, and Camry, and the Tesla Model 3. 

Good news for Apple…and a response to some bad news. First, the iPhone is now #1 in smartphone sales again….beating Samsung got the first time in five years. Zdnet.com says that worldwide smartphone sales fell 5% in the 4th quarter of 2020, but that Apple passed up Samsung as well as Huawei after introducing the 4 new iPhone 12 models. They may not hold on to the top spot long, as more makers roll out cheaper 5G smartphones. Apple really doesn’t have anything in the moderate to low price range. 

On the down side for Cupertino, over the weekend a piece of malware dubbed Silver Sparrow was detected on at least 30,000 Macs. Not only that, a version already runs on the new Apple M1 proprietary chips! So far, the malware doesn’t do anything or have any sort of payload, BUT it phones home to servers every hour, so someone is up to no good. Now, Apple has taken some steps to prevent further spread. They have revoked certificates of the developer accounts used to sign the packages, which will stop attackers from attacking more computers. Interestingly, the malware has a self-destruct mechanism…which is something you normally only see from malware built by state operators so they can escape detection. Expect Apple to take steps to neutralize the malware in MacOS updates soon.

Google has lifted its ban on political ads that was levied after the Capitol riot on January 6th. The ban was instituted on the 13th. According to axios.com, political ads will be accepted again beginning on Wednesday. An emailed statement from Google said “If they [the ads] are otherwise policy compliant, then our reviewers will approve the ad and it will be eligible to begin serving.” At this point, facebook has not yet lifted their ban on political ads. 

NY Sues Amazon; YouTube to Debut Shorts in US-TikTok Cline; Google Maps Lets You Pay for Mass Transit; Microsoft Edge Helps Cut Irritating Notifications

New York has sued Amazon, accusing the online giant of ‘flagrant disregard’ for the health and safety of workers. Geekwire.com reports that Attorney General Letitia James filed the action last night. Amazon is accused of failing to protect workers from COVID-19. Amazon had filed a pre-emptive suit on Friday in an effort to defend its COVID response. AG James says in the suit that Amazon failed to comply with cleaning and safety requirements after positive COVID-19 cases were identified at its facilities. The suit notes that Amazon’s record profits amid the pandemic came “at the expense of its frontline workers who have experienced significant risks of COVID-19 infection while working at Amazon.” It also accuses Amazon of illegally retaliating against employees who complained about the company’s COVID-19 response. Amazon, of course, denies all of this. 

YouTube is going to start testing Shorts, its competitor to TikTok in the US, starting in March. According to cnet.com, YouTube has been trialing the service in India since September. YouTube says that it has been getting 3.5 billion views a day! The feature lets creators upload videos that run a maximum of 15 seconds. Google gives you tools for adding music and splicing clips together. Now that the Biden administration has killed Ex-president Trump’s plan to neuter TikTok in the US through a sale, it remains to be seen if the YouTube competitor will lure away users from TikTok. 

A couple of welcome new additions to Google Maps: the ability to pay for parking or to buy a train ticket right inside the app. Theverge.com says they have integrated two mobile parking services into the app, Passport and ParkMobile. As far as mass transit, when you search for directions in Google Maps, you will see an option to buy tickets right along with your results. You need a Google Pay account linked to a valid credit or debit card to use it. 

Microsoft is now crowdsourcing data for it’s Edge browser regarding pop up notices. According to engadget.com, the company will track the options people choose — to allow, block, ignore or dismiss notifications entirely — and compile that information into an annoyance score. If the number is too high, Edge will automatically quiet notifications from that site. You can also select ‘Quiet notification requests and mute all of the annoying things!

Fitbits Now Available via Google Store; Apple May Be Making 7 Inch Folder Phone with Pencil; Metropolis Raises $41 Million-Automated Parking; Microsoft’s New Office App Comes to iPad

Fitbit watches and trackers are now officially for sale from the Google Store. 9to5google.com reports that you can now pick up your fitness band right there with Pixel phones and Nest thermostats. Right now, the Fitbit Sense, Versa 3, Inspire 2, and Charge 4 are on the site. Prices are the same as elsewhere, but a plus is that you can get purchase financing via the Store like is available for unlocked Pixel phones. Watchbands, chargers, and other accessories are also up on the site now. 

Folding phones got a pretty rocky start (looking at you, Samsung) and are pricey, but may well be the way to go if you’d rather not schlep around both a smartphone and a tablet. Now, Apple may have one in the works that could be out in 2023. It will have a 7.3 to 7.6 inch OLED screen, and utilize the Apple Pencil (although the leak says it will support an ‘activity pen.’) According to macrumors.com, the 7.6 inch screen would be nearly the size of the present 7.9 inch iPad Mini. The device would obviously be heavier and thicker than an iPhone, but as a way to ditch the iPad and just carry one device, it may be just the device some people need. 

LA based startup Metropolis is going after BMW owned ParkMobile in the automated parking realm. Techcrunch.com says the startup has raised $41 million. Upgrading ParkMobile’s license plate-based service with a computer vision based system that recognizes cars as they enter and leave garages has been Metropolis’ mission since founder and chief executive Alex Israel first formed the business back in 2017. The company hopes to expand to over 600 locations over the next year. They already manage 10,000 parking slots. The plate based system is in place with several firms. A friend in NYC says the little sign flashes when she leaves work…’Goodbye Ms X. Have a nice day!’ Personalized or creepy…you decide!

Microsoft’s new unified Office mobile app is now out for iPad. It rolls up Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a single app. Theverge.com notes the app has been out on iOS as well as Android since 2019. Up to now, its run in a windowed mode instead of a fully optimized iPad app. BTW, if you prefer, the stand alone apps are still available and being updated on an ongoing basis.