T-Mobile has announced that Binge On, its free video streaming feature, now supports YouTube, Google Play Movies, Discovery GO, Fox Business, Red Bull TV, and many other newly added video providers. The complete list of partners is available through T-Mobile's website.
Binge On is a free program that allows T-Mobile customers on a qualifying Simple Choice plan to stream unlimited 480p video from over 50 partners, including Netflix, HBO NOW, and Hulu since launch, without any of the data used counting towards their plan. The incentive has been criticized by some as a violation of net neutrality -- accusations that T-Mobile has repeatedly denied.
In December, YouTube accused T-Mobile of throttling all video, and not just the video of its Binge On partners. T-Mobile responded by saying that "mobile optimized" or "downgraded" are better phrases to describe how Binge On works, and stressed that all customers can disable the feature through their account settings. Earlier in the month, the FCC said it was looking into how the program works.
Yesterday, T-Mobile announced that it has renewed its partnership with Major League Baseball. Ahead of the upcoming season, the carrier said it will be gifting all T-Mobile customers with a free one-year subscription to MLB.TV Premium, a cross-platform service for streaming live baseball on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Android, PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Chromecast, Roku, smart TVs, and more.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will be featured on the cover of the March 28th edition of TIME Magazine in relation to the ongoing Apple-FBI debate over unlocking an iPhone belonging to deceased San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.
The print edition includes a lengthy interview with Cook, who talked mostly about widely known background details pertaining to the case, just days before Apple and the FBI are set to appear in a U.S. court on Tuesday, March 22.
Cook insists that Apple's refusal to create a modified, less-secure version of iOS, enabling the FBI to unlock Farook's passcode-protected iPhone using brute force, was a "labored decision" based on lengthy internal discussions.
“We had long discussions about that internally, when they asked us,” Cook says. “Lots of people were involved. It wasn’t just me sitting in a room somewhere deciding that way, it was a labored decision. We thought about all the things you would think we would think about.”
Cook said that he found out about the FBI-backed court order demanding Apple help federal investigators access data on the shooter's iPhone through the press, and he admitted to being "deeply offended" by the government agency "talking about or lying about [Apple's] intentions."
“Do I like their tactics?” Cook says. “No, I don’t. I’m seeing the government apparatus in a way I’ve never seen it before. Do I like finding out from the press about it? No, I don’t think it’s professional. Do I like them talking about or lying about our intentions? No. I’m offended by it. Deeply offended by it.”
Cook likened Apple's stance to "freedom of speech" in the U.S., which is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
“When I think of civil liberties, I think of the founding principles of this country,” Cook says. “The freedoms that are in the First Amendment, but also the fundamental right to privacy. And the way that we simply see this is, if this All Writs Act can be used to force us to do something that would make millions of people vulnerable, then you can begin to ask yourself, If that can happen, what else can happen? In the next Senate you might say, Well, maybe it should be a surveillance OS. Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.” […]
Except that it protects terrorists as well as good guys. “We get that,” Cook says. “But you don’t take away the good for that sliver of bad. We’ve never been about that as a country. We make that decision every day, right? There are some times that freedom of speech, we might cringe a little when we hear that person saying this and wish they wouldn’t. This, to us, is like that. It’s at the core of who we are as a country.”
While the FBI has argued that it only wants access to a single iPhone, Cook stressed that "it's not about one phone" and that weakening encryption could set a dangerous legal precedent — which the FBI itself has partially acknowledged.
“It’s very much about the future. You have a guy in Manhattan saying, I’ve got 175 phones that I want to take through this process.” (The guy in question being New York County district attorney Cyrus Vance, who did in fact say that.)
The full-length interview can be read on TIME's website and in the March 28 print issue.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Swiss software developer and civil liberties outfit Proton Technologies saw its encrypted email app ProtonMail hit the App Store today.
The iOS app is a front end for the company's popular free worldwide end-to-end encrypted email service, built on the back of over half a million dollars raised in a 2014 crowdfunding campaign.
ProtonMail invisibly integrates PGP encryption into a modern user interface and operates on the service's "zero access" policy, meaning all messages are stored in encrypted format so that not even ProtonMail has access to their contents.
Illustrated example of end-to-end encryption (Image: ProtonMail)
After creating a free email account, users can send and receive encrypted emails automatically, set timers for messages to self-destruct after sending, organize emails using swipe gestures and labels, and also send password-protected encrypted emails to non-ProtonMail email addresses.
ProtonMail's encryption service is open source and hosted entirely in Switzerland, under the protection of some of the world's strongest privacy laws.
Last year, the Swiss Parliament passed a new domestic surveillance law that increased the country's state surveillance capabilities and curtailed privacy rights. However, ProtonMail has concluded that the law does not negatively impact the company's secure email service.
Boxes of signatures being delivered to the Swiss government in Bern (Image: ProtonMail)
Despite that analysis, ProtonMail joined other civil liberty groups to mount a challenge against the new law, since according to Switzerland's democratic system, any law can be challenged by collecting 50,000 signatures within a period of three months after its passage.
Those efforts resulted in 70,000 signatures being delivered to the Swiss parliament in January. This means that at the next election, the Swiss surveillance law will be put to a public vote by the entire country.
ProtonMail was founded in 2013 by MIT engineers and CERN scientists inspired by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations of government mass surveillance programs.
ProtonMail is a free download for iPad and iPhone. [Direct Link]
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
At the Nike Innovation Summit yesterday in New York, popular athletics company Nike revealed a new addition to its line of Nike+ software, simply called the Nike+ app, which will focus on a personalized shopping experience similar to Apple's own Apple Store app. Nike+ will integrate with the company's previously existing Nike+ Running [Direct Link] and Nike+ Training Club [Direct Link] apps, but is mainly billed as an information-centered hub for Nike's mobile software world.
According to Nike, the "plus" in the title "now equates to 'personal,'" thanks to the customized springboard experience of Nike+. The first tab in the app will showcase an always-updating list of stories -- from training tips to product releases -- that will become more personalized over time the more Nike+ is used. The My Store tab will let users purchase Nike products from within the app, while the Services tab will guide them to the nearest physical Nike store and even let them book a 1:1 product reservation.
Starting in June, the new Nike+ app becomes athletes' all-access pass to Nike's most coveted products and events via one seamless sign-on. The “plus” now equates to “personal,” and the app connects members simply and swiftly to the Nike+ Run Club, Nike+ Training Club and Nike+ SNKRS apps. It also offers members a personal store stocked with performance product recommendations and reserved invitations to their favorite sneakers. Combining these offerings, the app serves every step of an athletic life — from competition to training to sport-style — propelling members towards their potential.
Thanks to an integration with Apple's Wallet app, Nike+ will let its users "skip the line and get personalized service at Nike stores and events," with the use of a QR code saved into Apple's first-party app. The Inbox section of Nike+ rounds out the experience with a basic influx of the latest news directly from the company and details on upcoming events nearby.
A specific launch date was not given, but Nike said its new Nike+ app will debut on iOS in June 2016. Those who are interested in the new app and aren't yet Nike+ members can sign up for the service today.
A new photo has surfaced on Chinese microblogging service Weibo that appears to confirm the "iPhone SE" name and that it will feature 16GB base storage. The alleged packaging also indicates the new 4-inch iPhone will have NFC, lending credence to multiplerumors claiming the device will support Apple Pay.
MacRumors rendering of possible iPhone SE design based on rumors
The packaging, which could feasibly be photoshopped, also lists a Lightning to USB cable and EarPods in the box, meaning that the device will likely retain a 3.5mm headphone jack as expected. The iPhone SE should also unsurprisingly support LTE on both CDMA and GSM networks around the world.
Multiple sources have claimed the iPhone SE will feature 16GB and 64GB storage options. Our recent Twitter poll (for the iPhone 7) shows that only 2 percent of over 9,000 voters, or roughly 180 people, would prefer a 16GB model, while 45 percent said they would opt for 64GB. 36 percent of voters want at least 128GB storage.
What would be your preferred iPhone 7 storage size? Rumors hint at a new 256GB model → https://t.co/EgITmY1uC9
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) March 16, 2016
Apple today released a new "Apple Events" app on the tvOS App Store, which will be used to live stream its upcoming "Let Us Loop You In" media event set to take place on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This will be the first Apple Event live streamed since the fourth-generation Apple TV was released in October.
Unlike on previous Apple TV models, the Apple Events app must be downloaded from the tvOS App Store on the fourth-generation Apple TV. As usual, second- and third-generation Apple TV users will likely have to wait until the Apple Events app automatically appears on their home screen. No software update is required.
The live stream will also be available on Macs and iOS devices through Apple's event website. iOS 7 or OS X 10.8.5 with Safari 6.0.5 or later is required.
Apple's spring event is expected to see the debut of the 4-inch "iPhone SE," which is rumored to look nearly identical to the iPhone 5s. It will include an A9 processor, an improved camera, and NFC support for use with Apple Pay. The 4-inch iPhone will be Apple's first small screen iPhone since 2013.
Also expected is a new 9.7-inch iPad, which may be branded as an iPad Pro instead of an iPad Air. It is rumored to be adopting features from the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, including a four-speaker design, a Smart Connector for connecting accessories, and display improvements for Apple Pencil support. New Apple Watch bands will likely be introduced. Existing bands will be available in new colors and there may be new product lines, like a rumored nylon band and a Space Black Milanese Loop.
MacRumors will provide live coverage of the event, both on MacRumors.com and through the @MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
British microchip designer and major Apple supplier Imagination Technologies announced additional cost cuts this morning, following a significant restructuring program unveiled by the UK firm only last month.
The company, which supplies the PowerVR graphics architecture in Apple's iPhones and iPads, said it would reduce its cost base by an additional £12.5 million ($18 million) by April 2017, on top of the £15 million in cost cuts announced in February. Two hundred staff now face redundancy as a result, adding to the 150 job cuts announced last month.
Tough trading conditions and a slowdown in iPhone shipment growth is said to be behind the decision, after the company posted an operating loss for the year to the end of April.
"This swift and decisive action will put us back on a sound financial footing and will enable us to have the necessary resources to further strengthen our three core businesses," the company's interim chief executive Andrew Heath said in a statement. "The ongoing operational review will identify clearly where we need to focus, building on our current strengths and allocating the right capital to ensure growth and attractive returns."
Imagination Technologies has reported financial difficulties for several years, despite repeated expectations that iPhone sales would boost its revenues. Shares dropped 10 percent last year when the company reported a first-half loss, and nosedived as much as 18 percent when the restructure was announced in February. The company has also put its digital radio business Pure up for sale.
Apple has been a licensee and stakeholder in Imagination Technologies since at least 2008. The two companies have worked closely together over the years, with Apple being a key investor in the graphics firm since it raised its stake to roughly 10 percent in mid-2009. In 2014 Imagination announced an extended licensing agreement with Apple. However, it has been under pressure to reduce its dependence on Apple since at least 2012 because of declining average royalty rates.
Imagination announced the next iteration of its PowerVR Rogue graphics architecture at this year's CES in January. The PowerVR Series7XT Plus builds on the Series7XT GPU used in the iPad Pro, with a focus on improved camera and vision processing capabilities for photography-based applications.
It remains to be seen whether the new chips will appear in Apple's rumored 'iPad Pro' branded 9.7-inch tablet set to launch next week, the iPhone 7 expected this September, or indeed in any other future Apple devices.
Nintendo's first official iOS game, Miitomo, made its long-awaited debut in the Japanese App Store yesterday.
As promised, the company's first foray into smartphone apps is a free-to-play social title in which players can create and customise their own avatars, known as Miis, which can communicate with other Miis on the social network.
Apart from the social angle, the main incentive to play is to earn points which can be exchanged for discounts on console and handheld games, console themes and other rewards through the company's new loyalty program, My Nintendo, which also launched in Japan alongside the game.
MacRumors sister site Touch Arcade has posted its first impressions on Miitomo, which is currently limited to the Japanese App Store but expected to roll out to most countries by the end of the month.
If you simply can't wait, Touch Arcade has also posted a helpful guide explaining how to download games from other regions.
Nintendo has promised more games for smartphones, some of which are expected to be pay-to-download. Registrations have also gone live for Nintendo's new multiplatform account system, Nintendo Account, which connects PC, Nintendo hardware and smartphone users, and enables the transfer of game data between mobile and console games.
Update: Nintendo has announced that Miitomo launches in the U.S. and "several other countries" on March 31.
iPhoto and Aperture were discontinued in the spring of 2015 when Photos for OS X launched as part of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, but the software continues to be used by many Mac owners who previously had it installed on their machines.
Though Aperture and iPhoto are not available in the Mac App Store and are no longer being updated, the software has remained functional with OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan. As of March 31, however, one feature will be disappearing -- the ability to order photo books, prints, and other content created within the two apps. Starting on that date, the Apple Print Products Store will no longer support Aperture or iPhoto.
As noted by a MacRumors tipster and the Apple Support forums, iPhoto and Aperture are now notifying customers who order books or prints about the imminent discontinuation of the feature. Apple employees have also been letting customers know that the printing ability will no longer be available, but Apple doesn't appear to have made an official support document announcing the change.
Photo books, cards, calendars, prints, and more can be created using the Photos for OS X app, which replaced both Aperture and iPhoto.
T-Mobile today announced that it is once again partnering with Major League Baseball, this time to give all T-Mobile customers a free one-year subscription to the MLB.TV Premium service. This is the third year in a row T-Mobile has partnered up with Major League Baseball, and this year's giveaway is in celebration of three more years of partnership.
"For the last three years MLB has been with us every step of the way as we have re-written the rules of wireless. This year we're doubling down - and expanding the relationship even further to include the Home Run Derbies and free MLB.TV for customers," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "This isn't just some corporate sponsorship. It's the combined effort of two passionate teams bringing even more amazing perks and game-changing moves to baseball fans over the next three years!"
T-Mobile Simple Choice customers on qualifying plans are able to sign up for a full MLB.TV Premium subscription valued at $109.99 starting on April 3. To get the discount, customers will need to subscribe using the T-Mobile network.
The service will allow T-Mobile subscribers to watch 2,430 out-of-market regular season games live on their T-Mobile devices. It will take advantage of T-Mobile's BingeOn feature, so streaming MLB content on a device connected to the T-Mobile network will not count against data caps. MLB.TV Premium is available on Macs, iOS devices, the Apple TV, and a number of other consoles and set-top boxes.
Also included is a free premium subscription to MLB.com At Bat, something T-Mobile has given away in past years.
Apple today shared a humorous new iPhone 6s ad that features well-known Sesame Street character Cookie Monster. In the spot, Cookie Monster is baking cookies and using the always-on hands-free "Hey Siri" feature to set a timer.
On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor allows Siri to continuously listen for the "Hey Siri" command without needing to be plugged into power. On older devices, "Hey Siri" is available, but only while an iOS device is charging.
While Cookie Monster impatiently waits for the cookies to be done, he uses "Hey Siri" to play Jim Croce song "Time in a Bottle," and proceeds to pace around the kitchen, gobble up a wooden spoon, and moan about the wait.
The iPhone 6s "Timer" ad starring Cookie Monster is one of several iPhone 6s ads starring well-known celebrities, but it is the first to feature a character rather than an actor or athlete. Previous ads focusing on iPhone 6s features ranging from Live Photos to 3D Touch to the device's A9 processor have starred Jamie Foxx, Bill Hader, Jon Favreau, and Stephen Curry.
A German court today ruled Apple has violated several streaming digital video patents belonging to software maker OpenTV, reports Reuters. OpenTV first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2014 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and followed that up with a U.S. lawsuit in May of 2015.
OpenTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kudelski Group, says Apple services like iTunes and Apple devices like iPhones and iPads infringe on its patents related to the secure delivery of media content to consumer devices.
Apple has been ordered to cease selling products that use software infringing on the OpenTV patents in Germany.
OpenTV sued Apple in 2014, alleging that various products infringe its patents, including the iPhone and iPad. The ruling on Tuesday from the Dusseldorf District Court said Apple products sold in Germany must not use streaming software which infringes OpenTV's patents. [...]
"The claim is predominantly valid and well-founded," the Dusseldorf court said in its ruling on Tuesday.
Founded in 1994, OpenTV was one of the first providers of software, advertising products, and operating systems used on millions of television set-top boxes. Its current flagship product is OpenTV, a broadcast and digital television platform that runs on set-top boxes around the world.
Apple could not be reached for comment and it is not clear if an appeal will be filed. Apple's civil suit in the United States has not yet been resolved.
Uber today announced the limited launch of a new "Family Profiles" feature for its iOS app, which will allow up to 10 riders to share a single payment method. With Family Profiles, Uber passengers can have their rides paid for by friends or family, allowing parents to pay for rides for children, for example.
While we've called this feature Family Profiles, we let you decide who is family. It's a great way to help loved ones, friends or coworkers get where they want to go while you foot the bill. Whether you're a parent with kids away at college or a daughter wanting to help your parents maintain their independence, it's never been easier to share some Uber love around to the people that matter most in your life.
Family Profiles are currently available in Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix and can be enabled in the Settings app of the latest version of the Uber app.
A main Family Profile organizer can invite contacts to accept an invitation to join the Family Profile, which will then allow riders to request rides from their own device using the shared payment method. Family Profile organizers will be billed for the ride and will receive ride receipts.
Uber has not specified when Family Profiles might expand to additional areas, but should the feature prove successful, it will likely be available in more cities across the United States in the coming weeks.
The Uber app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple has signed a deal with Google that will see the Google Cloud Platform providing some of the cloud infrastructure for iCloud and other cloud-based Apple services, reports CRN (via Business Insider). Apple reportedly established a $400 to $600 million deal with Google last last year and has, as a result, "significantly" cut down on its reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
According to the sources, Google executives have told partners that Apple is spending between $400 million and $600 million on Google Cloud Platform, although this couldn't be independently confirmed. Also unclear is whether this range refers to an annual spending rate or a set amount of capacity.
While the money Apple is now paying Google was previously spent on AWS, Apple has not stopped using Amazon's cloud computing services entirely. Apple has never confirmed the cloud services that power iCloud, but past rumors have pointed towards AWS and Microsoft Azure, suggesting Apple will continue using multiple services to meet its needs.
According to The Information's Amir Efrati, who has confirmed Apple's plans, it will take a year for Apple to transition to using Google Cloud Platform.
It’s true, @iCloud to be partially powered by @googlecloud. But will take a year & unlikely to be profitable. @awscloud lost $ from iCloud.
— Amir Efrati (@amir) March 16, 2016
Since last year, Google has been aggressively pursuing deals for its Google Cloud Platform, led by former VMware CEO Diane Greene. Google and Amazon have been involved in ongoing pricing wars, but Google claims to be the "price/performance leader" in public cloud and says its Google Cloud Platform is between 15 and 41 percent less expensive than AWS.
In the future, Apple may scale back on the money it spends on third-party cloud computing platforms, based on its data center plans. Apple is building new data centers in Ireland, Denmark, Reno, and Arizona, plus it is expanding its existing data center in Prineville, Oregon.
In Arizona, Apple's data center will be located at the former GT Advanced sapphire plant and has been described as a "command center" for Apple's global data network. Apple says the Arizona location is "one of the largest investments" the company has made.
A new iOS trojan has been found in the wild that's able to infect non-jailbroken iOS devices through PCs without the need to exploit an enterprise certificate. Named "AceDeceiver," the malware was discovered by Palo Alto Networks and is currently affecting iOS users in China.
AceDeceiver infects an iOS device by taking advantage of flaws in FairPlay, Apple's digital rights management (DRM) system. According to Palo Alto Networks, it uses a technique called "FairPlay Man-in-the-Middle," which has been used to spread pirated iOS apps in the past by using fake iTunes software and spoofed authorization codes to get the apps on iOS devices. The same technique is now being used to spread the AceDeceiver malware.
Apple allows users purchase and download iOS apps from their App Store through the iTunes client running in their computer. They then can use the computers to install the apps onto their iOS devices. iOS devices will request an authorization code for each app installed to prove the app was actually purchased. In the FairPlay MITM attack, attackers purchase an app from App Store then intercept and save the authorization code.
They then developed PC software that simulates the iTunes client behaviors, and tricks iOS devices to believe the app was purchased by victim. Therefore, the user can install apps they never actually paid for, and the creator of the software can install potentially malicious apps without the user's knowledge.
From July of 2015 to February of 2016, three AceDeceiver iOS apps were uploaded to the official iOS App Store, posing as wallpaper apps and providing attackers with a fake authorization code to use in the AceDeceiver attacks.
A Windows iPhone management app called "Aisi Helper" that claimed to provide services like system backup and cleaning was installed by users in China, and it went on to install malicious iOS apps on connected devices. The apps were designed to be third-party App Stores with free content to bait users into using them and submitting their Apple IDs and passwords. Apple ID information was then uploaded to the AceDeceiver server.
Though Apple removed the original AceDeceiver iOS apps from the App Store in February (the ones used by the hackers to obtain the authorization codes), the attack remains active because attackers still have the authorization codes necessary to install fake apps on iOS devices. AceDeceiver only affects users in China, but Palo Alto Networks believes the AceDeceiver trojan or similar malware could spread to additional regions in the future. AceDeceiver is especially insidious as it has not been patched (and could work on older versions of iOS even when patched), installs apps automatically from an infected computer, and does not require an enterprise certificate.
An AceDeceiver third-party App Store app installed automatically on an iOS device through a computer using the Aisi Helper Malware
AceDeceiver in its current incarnation requires users to download the Aisi Helper Windows app to their computers before the malware can spread to iOS devices, so people who have downloaded this software should remove it immediately and change their Apple ID passwords. In the future, AceDeceiver can be avoided by not downloading suspicious software.
Palo Alto Networks has a full rundown of AceDeceiver, its history, and how it works on the Palo Alto Networks website. It's well worth reading for anyone who wants more information about the malware.
Waze, the largest community-based traffic and navigation app on iPhone and iPad, has been updated today with a new "Planned Drives" feature that enables users to schedule an upcoming drive and receive a reminder to leave on time. Estimated drive times are updated based on live traffic conditions in the area.
Now you’ll always know when to go! Enter the time and date you need to arrive and Waze will recommend the best time to leave. You’ll also receive a reminder closer to your event with an updated departure time based upon real-time road conditions. Just set it and forget it.
"Planned Drives" can be accessed by entering a destination or tapping the Waze icon in the bottom-left corner of the app on version 4.3.0 or later. Users can then set a starting location, destination, and the time and day they plan to leave, and then tap "save" to confirm. Tap on the trip at any time to begin receiving directions.
Facebook and Calendar events can also be synced to automatically become Planned Drives.
The latest version of Waze also includes some smaller improvements:
* The Waze Traffic Bar now shows the reason for a jam (if one is known) like an accident or object on the road * Waze now mutes automatically during an incoming or outgoing phone call * Bugs and stability fixes
Medical smartphone accessory company AliveCor today announced that it will bring "the first medical-grade EKG band" to the Apple Watch with the "Kardia Band," in addition to a new smartphone app for users of its heart-rate reading devices. The company already sells a few "mobile EKG" products in its online store, including cases for the iPhone 6/6s and iPhone 5/5s that have users place their fingers on metallic plates to get sufficient heart-rate readings.
The Kardia Band for Apple Watch will function in a similar way, with a small, integrated metal sensor in the band communicating with the company's new app to take wrist-worn EKG readings. All users will have to do is navigate to the Apple Watch-compatible Kardia app, start a reading, place their thumb on the sensor, and wait for the 30-second analysis to complete. During this time, users can also speak into the Apple Watch's microphone to detail any palpitations, shortness of breath, or dietary habits that could be linked to heart-rate fluctuations.
Users can record a single-lead EKG by simply touching Kardia Band’s integrated sensor that communicates with the Watch app, Kardia by AliveCor™. The Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Detector then uses Kardia’s automated analysis process (algorithm) to instantly detect the presence of AF in an EKG, the most common cardiac arrhythmia and a leading cause of stroke.
Also included is the Normal Detector, which indicates whether your heart rate and rhythm are normal, and the Unreadable Detector, which tells you when to retake an EKG so physicians receive only the highest quality recordings.
The collected recordings are stored and can be viewed in the iPhone version of the Kardia app, and even sent to a patient's preferred doctor if any suspicious activity is gathered during a reading. AliveCor said that the app can also connect to Apple's stock Health app, so users can integrate their EKG readings into established fitness data like step count and calorie intake to further bolster an overall assessment of their well-being.
The Kardia Band is currently undergoing clearance approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and can't be sold until it does so, but AliveCor believes the device will be available to purchase as soon as "late spring." The updated Kardia by AliveCor app [Direct Link] can be downloaded today, however, and works with the company's re-branded Kardia Mobile device as well as the line of iPhone cases.
AliveCor encourages those interested to sign up on its website to be the first to know when the Kardia Band will be for sale and at what price.
Following a rumor that Apple may sell an iPhone 7 Plus with 256GB storage, Italian website HDblog has shared pictures of a SanDisk 256GB NAND flash memory chip that could be appropriate for the next-generation smartphone.
Apple has used SanDisk flash memory chips in a number of previous iPhone models, including the iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, while other models have used NAND flash chips from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Toshiba.
SanDisk has managed to reduce the size of its 256GB flash memory chip to be smaller than its 64GB counterpart, which makes it a viable option given rumors that the iPhone 7 lineup could be up to 1mm thinner with a larger 3,100 mAh battery.
It remains unclear if the iPhone 7 Plus will still have 16GB base storage, which has been a highly contested option in recent years, or if Apple will opt for larger storage sizes such as 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB at existing price points.
T-Mobile has announced that Binge On, its free video streaming feature, now supports YouTube, Google Play Movies, Discovery GO, Fox Business, Red Bull TV, and many other newly added video providers. The complete list of partners is available through T-Mobile's website.
A German court today ruled Apple has violated several streaming digital video patents belonging to software maker OpenTV, reports 
