By Cynthia Herbert :: 12:14 PM
Don’t be surprised if, at your next eye exam, your doctor whips out his or her iPhone instead of the usual instruments they use to measure and examine your eyes.
Medical-device manufacturer Welch Allyn is about ready to market iPhones as eye scanners after approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Skaneateles Falls NY-based company was granted clearance from the FDA for its iPhone hardware adapter dubbed the iExaminer. The device, along with software provided by Welch Allyn, allows the iPhone to capture high-resolution images of the retinal nerve of the eye. The adapter and software were designed to allow health-care providers to take digital images of eyes across clinical settings, and share those images with patients. The device, the company hopes, will also increase efficiency in optical offices.
iExaminer is a snap-on adapter that connects the company’s PanOptic ophthalmoscope to the iPhone (4 and 4S models only).
“I was able to take this very lightweight, portable, inexpensive iExaminer to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in sub-Saharan Africa and take a picture of a patient’s fundus,” said the inventor Dr. Wyche Coleman. “From the top of the mountain, I then transmitted it to a doctor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States where he was able to analyze the image.”
The mobility of this device greatly expands the possibilities for health care in poor and rural areas where access to expensive and hard-to-move equipment is scarce.
The free version of the Welch Allyn iPhone app allows doctors to capture and store up to 10 patient files, and a paid upgrade is available for retaining more records.
Welch Allyn hopes to begin shipping the device on February 11th.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:39 AM
Although Google Glass is not ready for the consumer market yet, things are ramping up, and the company is sponsoring two events for developers in the coming weeks. To add to the excitement behind this new technology, Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin, was spotted on the New York City subway over the weekend, wearing a pair of the coveted glasses.
Brooklyn resident Noah Zerkin posted to his blog yesterday that he spied Brin on the #3 train Sunday night, wearing Project Glass.
Zerkin had already seen a few developers wearing Glass, and has a friend who is a member of Google’s UX team, so he was quickly able to spot the new specs on Brin.
I asked if I could take his picture and he smiled and consented. I asked how the project was coming along and how he liked where it was right now. Of course he told me that he loved it and that it was coming along really well.
Earlier this month, Google sent an e-mail to developers who had pre-ordered Google Glass at the I/O conference last summer. It read, “join us for an early look at Glass and two full days of hacking on the upcoming Google Mirror API in San Francisco or New York. It’s the first opportunity for a group of developers to get together and develop for Glass.† Google’s San Francisco event will be held on January 28th and 29th, and the New York City event is planned for February 1st and 2nd.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 12:02 PM
Singer Beyoncé performed the national anthem at yesterday’s inauguration ceremony for President Obama’s second term, and quickly received overwhelming praise on the performance. However, there were some present who quickly took to social media to say that they believed the performance was pre-recorded, and the star was lip-synching the words.
Now, it looks like the Twitter rumors are true. The “President’s Own†Marine Corps Band, was not playing their instruments during the song, despite the director, Michael Colburn conducting and waving his baton. Also, at one point during the performance, Beyoncé fiddled with, and then removed her ear piece.
The Times of London has confirmed with the band that they indeed did not play at the ceremony to back up the singer. A spokesperson for the band told the Times that this is “standard procedure to record a backing track, and Beyoncé decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version rather than risk singing it live on the Capitol.”
There were clues on social media that lead many to believe this to be the case before the Times confirmed it. One day before the ceremony, on January 20th, Beyoncé posted pictures to Instagram that showed her in a recording studio. In one snapshot, she was holding a copy of the music for “The Star Spangled Banner†next to a microphone, and in another picture she sits next to some recording equipment while some musicians from the Marine Corps Band are nearby holding sheet music. See photo above.
Playing along to a pre-recording isn’t a new thing at the inaugural ceremony. During Obama’s 2009 inauguration, cold temperatures and windy conditions lead to cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman performing a pre-recorded version of their tune. However, there are no previously known cases of a performer lip-syncing the national anthem during an inaugural ceremony.
By Gilbert Falso :: 8:39 AM
Ah, Apple. How the fans and press love to speculate, sling rumors, and take their wildest guesses at what the Cupertino giant may be up to next. We’re no exception, and the latest news out there is that the company is looking to create a larger-screened device, at 4.8 inches, and it’s called – not making this up – the iPhone Math.
Two Taiwan-based publications, including The Commercial Times, pegged a release date for the larger handset as soon as this June, a little surprising as it puts the new device ahead of, and out of synch with, the yearly iPhone refresh cycle. Typically, Apple unveils a new iPhone in the fall, at least that was the case with the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S.
As far as the name goes, iPhone Math is a strange one. Its likely a code name, and could refer to the larger screen size on the new device. Some analysts are thinking that the name is a translation error. Apple, of course, is not saying anything about these rumors.
The Cupertino company will need to do something big this year, if reports about slowing demand for iPads and the current iPhone 5 are true. Apple will release its earnings report tomorrow, and analysis compiled by Bloomberg points to fiscal first- quarter net income dropping about 2% to $12.8 billion ($13.48 a share). For Apple, this is not business as usual. Since 2003, in all except one quarter, Apple’s profit has jumped more than 10%.
By Gilbert Falso :: 12:58 PM
Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is slated to launch devices running the BlackBerry 10 operating system at the end of January. One big change may be coming with this OS release, however, as RIM is looking into the possibility of licensing this new operating system to other handset makers.
In similar fashion as Microsoft did with the OS on Windows Phone, RIM’s CEO has told a German newspaper that such a move on the Blackberry maker’s part might be possible. “Before you licensed the software, you must show that the platform has a large potential. First we have to fulfill our promises. If such proof, a licensing is conceivable,” he told German daily Die Welt.
By licensing the new operating system, RIM would open up the ability for third-party hardware manufacturers to install Blackberry 10 as the operating system on non-RIM smartphones and tablets.
RIM is expected to debut its own handsets specially made for the new operating system across a number of cities in a coordinated launch at the end of the month. The OS launches after a considerable delay, due to Blackberry’s concerns that the final product be a platform robust enough to last a long time.
In addition to the new hardware and operating system launch, RIM is also said to be planning on opening its corporate BlackBerry email services to both iPhone and Android devices. This move would produce a new revenue stream for the struggling company, which has seen its a large part of its market share eroded in recent years by Apple and Android handsets.