VentureBeat reports on nonprofit Cure.org, which raises money for children in need, and it’s experimenting with a suite of mobile apps to draw attention to the cause.
Launching this week, the company’s new iPhone app features profiles of kids in developing countries who desperately require surgeries. You can donate directly through the app and receive real-time updates on the patient’s progress.
Once you’ve made a donation, the app invites you to send a get-well message. If there’s a language or literacy barrier, Cure.org claims its on the ground team will translate the messages and ensure they’re received.
At the Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, nurses can see into the lives of some diabetes patients even when they’re not at the clinic. If a specific patient starts acting lethargic, or making lengthy calls to his mom, a green box representing him on an online dashboard turns yellow, then red. Soon, a nurse will call to see if he is still taking his medication.
This novel way of keeping tabs on patients is one of several studies of an app called Ginger.io taking place at hospitals in the United States. Once installed on patients’ smartphones, the app silently logs data about what they do and where they go. It’s looking for signs that something in their life has changed.
This week ABC will quietly revolutionize its app for iPhones and iPads with a button called “live.” Users around New York and Philadelphia will be able to live-stream all the programming from ABC’s local stations there, the first time that any major broadcaster has turned on such a technology. The New York Times reports.
ABC will be able to stream all of its stations’ local newscasts, syndicated talk shows like “Katie,” and national series like “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The live-stream functionality comes at a time when ABC and its broadcast rivals are trying to keep the attention of audiences that are increasingly turning to cable channels and Internet streaming services like Netflix.
Richard Hickman of Decipher Forensics found that it’s possible to pull Snapchat photos from Android phones simply by downloading data from the phone using forensics software.
A British company which has devised an encryption system for messaging is trying to get the UK government's GCHQ to give its first-ever approval to an off-the-shelf smartphone app called Redact. And in a bid to demonstrate its security, it is offering a £10,000 reward to any hackers that can crack it.
In yet another lovely example of turning a smartphone into a medical product, researchers at the University of Essex, UK created a new iPhone app that works like a hearing aid. Medgadget reports via @jranck.
Using the built-in microphone, the BioAid app listens to the ambient environment and amplifies, as well as quiets, ranges of frequencies that the user can adjust at any time.
Because many people with hearing loss are only mildly to moderately affected by their symptoms, a free and easy solution like the BioAid may offer them a way to avoid using traditional hearing aids. The app has been made available for free on iTunes for anyone with an iOS 6 device, but is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Startup Sherpa’s predictive intelligence offers valuable insights when and where you need them. MIT Technology Review reports.
Sherpa, a free smartphone app, mines your e-mails, calendar, and location data to determine the best time and place to let you know something like your flight information and help with next steps, such as getting a cab to the airport.
Bill Ferrell, the company’s founder and CEO, used to work on search advertising quality at Google. He spent a lot of time traveling for work, pulling out his laptop to look up when his flight was leaving or which hotel he was staying at. Why, he wondered, couldn’t the information just come to you?
... Sherpa is joining a growing group of mobile apps attempting to push beyond Apple’s sassy digital assistant, Siri, by bringing you helpful data before you even ask for it.
FierceMobile Content reports that CBS is rolling out a new CBS App for Apple's iPhone and iPad, promising users full episodes of the Tiffany Network's primetime, daytime and late-night programs.
The free CBS App offers streaming access to series including NCIS, The Good Wife, How I Met Your Mother, The Young and the Restless, and The Late Show with David Letterman.
Daytime and late night programming will be available within 24 hours after initial airing, while most primetime shows will be available eight days after broadcast. CBS is launching the app in partnership with Buick, promising reduced commercial interruptions during its initial weeks of availability.
STD Triage app, released March 6, is an app to assess skin problems and offers assessments of possible STDs by licensed dermatologists. TechNewsDaily reports.
Self-diagnosis of STDs can often be wrong, and many are reluctant to consult a doctor because of embarrassment. STD Triage allows users to anonymously gather information to find out whether what they see is indeed signs of an STD. If an assessment indicates an STD, Börve said users may feel compelled to seek treatement.
Here's how it works: Download the free app from the App Store. Take a picture of the skin problem and submit it to STD Triage, along with the form describing your symptoms and brief sexual history: "have you had unprotected sex in the last month?" (You will not be asked to send personal identification information such as your name or email address.) Your request is then reviewed by a dermatologist, who will respond within 24 hours. Users then pay $10 to read the assessment.
-- Uchek app tests urine for medical issues — A smartphone app that uses a phone's camera to analyse urine and check for a range of medical conditions has been shown off at the TED conference in Los Angeles last month. Uchek tests for 25 different health issues and could help diagnose and treat diseases in the developing world. [via BBC]
-- The accuracy of Apps that Aim to Detect Skin Cancer can vary significantly, according to a study published in January. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center evaluated four smartphone apps meant to determine whether moles have morphed into cancerous melanomas. The best-performing app accurately identified cancerous moles 98.1% of the time, while the worst picked them up only 6.8% of the time, according to the study. [via WSJ]
An always-on app called Xpression, that automatically generates someone's "mood diary", could give psychologists all the data they need to help a depressed patient. New Scientist reports.
It's the brainchild of Matt Dobson and Duncan Barclay, founders of UK speech recognition firm EI Technologies.
To work, the app has to be always on, listening out for the user's voice once every second, whether they are talking to family, friends, colleagues or even pets. It also listens in on phone calls. If the user is silent, the app does nothing. Crucially for the users' privacy, it doesn't record their words, instead seeking out telltale acoustic features – like pitch – that are indicative of emotional state. ... It then lists a person's moods against the times they change, and automatically emails the list to their psychologist at the end of the day.
C/Net reviews the latest version of Bump's app, that now allows you to move any kind of file (photos, videos, documents) between an iPhone or Android phone and any computer. As long as the total is smaller then 30 megabytes.
The hit app, which enables two people to swap photos and contact details simply by bumping phones together has been downloaded more than 125 million times. The update is making it possible to quickly and easily move files between iPhones or Android phones and any computer -- in either direction.
An Android app that measures atmospheric pressure is now feeding that distributed data to scientists working on better ways to predict the weather. MIT Technology Review reports.
The app, called PressureNet, highlights the potential of distributed sensing using mobile devices and shows how the sophisticated sensors found in modern smartphones could be harnessed for research.
It was launched in late 2011 By Jacob Sheehy, a software developer for Flighthub.com, and Phil Jones, an independent Web designer, who became friends while studying at Concordia University in Montreal.
An iPhone app and peripheral device that allows doctors to use the iPhone camera to take photographs of the interior surface of the eye has received 510(K) FDA clearance, according to MobileHealth News.
The iExaminer System from Welch Allyn will build on the company’s existing PanOptic Opthalmascope, a device that lets a physician see into the back of a patient’s eye. The FDA clearance is for an adapter that connects the opthalmoscope to an iPhone 4 or 4s and an app that will allow the iPhone to take about 85 images in five seconds.
C/Net reports on a text messaging service called CurbTXT available in San Francisco, that enables drivers to send anonymous text messages to drivers who have badly parked their car or have left their lights on. A CurbTXT sticker on the car gives people an anonymous way to contact the driver through text messaging by referencing the plate number. The service then forwards the message to the owner.
Here in Switzerland we have a similar service but with no privacy protection other than the option of opting out (not in - so you have to know about this to opt out). CAR INDEX enables Swiss drivers to text a license plate number and receive instantly in return, the car owners name adddress and when available, his phone number. Astounding. So far no stalking or crimes have been reported due to this app.
A group of advertising students have created a fake promo ad for Apple for a new app called “Donation Box.” PSFK reports.
Apple users are encouraged to donate to charity using this simple app that donates the price of an app to the Salvation Army. Unwanted apps are traded in at their purchase price and Apple will donate cash to charity.
The students from Miami Ad School came up with this brilliant idea after seeing the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
According to the promo video (above) spotted on Creativebloq, Apple users simply drag and drop unwanted apps into the Box and Apple will donate cash to the charity. Amazing... except unfortunately it's not real.
French 3D-printing company Sculpteo developed a free app called "3DPCase" that 3ders.org lets users design or customize their unique iPhone case.
Now, a new feature called Photo Background allows users to choose any picture and have it 3D printed directly in the case. It comes with the most popular Curves and Shadow Profile cases. The new Background Option gives access to more than a hundred design possibilities for your iPhone case, and you can also add your own image.
The team at Miso has just launched a brand new social TV app for the iPhone called Quips. Lost Remote reports.
In a way, it’s a little like Pinterest for TV shows, but instead of sharing your favorite things, you’re sharing images of your favorite television moments — in an app. “Quips lets you find a great scene from a TV show, caption it with your thoughts, and share it instantly with friends on Facebook, Twitter, or on your Quips feed!” explains Miso’s Prakash Venkataramanin in a blog post.
A smartphone app which provides summaries of news stories soared to number nine in Apple's app store just two hours after its release in the US, reports the BBC.
The app, called Summly, was designed by 17-year-old Londoner Nick D'Aloisio, and has received more than $1m in funding from investors.
High-profile supporters include Stephen Fry, Tech City CEO Joanna Shields and Newscorp owner Rupert Murdoch.
The free-to-download app uses algorithms to process news stories into summaries which users can then swipe to see in full if they wish.
"We worked hard on an interface that looks like nothing else on iPhone," he told the BBC. We merged algorithm with beautiful design. It's summarising thousands of articles every minute.
Smartphone owners who catch a new ads campaign by Wonderbra are invited to watch as supermodel Adriana Cernanova “unveils her secrets.” PSFK reports.
The Wonderbra Decoder app, available on the App Store as well as Google Play, allows viewers of the luxury lingerie brand’s print, outdoor, and video ads to ‘undress’ the 21-year-old Slovakian model to see which of the company’s garments work best beneath various modern fashions.
Google has created a new mobile app that gives people facts about the places around them — unprompted, without the need to even ask for the information. Bits reports.
The app, Field Trip, offers historical trivia about a park, an architectural factoid about a building or reviews of a nearby restaurant. Google says it’s like having a local friend with you as you make your way through a city.
... Google, along with other companies and researchers, dreams of so-called ubiquitous computing or ambient intelligence — computers woven into the texture of life as opposed to being separate machines. Eventually, the theory goes, computers will be part of the environment, know where people are and anticipate what they want to know.
The Field Trip app is a small step in that direction, and an example of what Google is capable of doing.
Muthoot group, one of India's largest financial groups, has launched 'Muthoot Group Apps' for Apple and Andriod phones and tablets - enabling consumers to purchase gold and silver coins, besides being offered investment reports among other things. Times of India reports.
In the present scenario 'convenience' is the most important criteria wherein the customer can book/buy from the comforts of his/her home and get over the delivery hassles/ billing counter.
"We believe that in the coming years, the sale of gold and silver coins via internet will become as popular as internet banking and online travel and tour booking," Muthoot Group Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot told PTI.
ABC News reports a team of marine biologists have deployed a self-propelled Wave Glider robot off the coast of San Francisco that listens for and tracks white sharks.
An app for iPhone and iPad lets everyone, non-marine biologists and marine biologists alike, see the information the robot is collecting about the sharks.
The Shark Net app provides images, sounds, and video of white sharks off the coast of California.
Over 4,000 tags have been placed on animals across the Pacific, including sharks, tuna, and whales.
The new Wave Glider joins a number of fixed buoys that have been picking up the signals from those tagged animals.
An Australian-developed iPhone app that cheekily claims to "increase teen pregnancy" has been attacked by family planning groups as irresponsible. stuff reports.
The app, which went live yesterday morning and has already skyrocketed to number one in the entertainment category in the Australian app store enables users to "impregnate anyone you meet simply by taking a photo of them, marking up the image and pressing a button".
"Knocked App means you can meet someone and conceive with them with just the press of a button," it boasts.
It digitally alters images to give subjects the appearance of being nine months' pregnant.
Angus Mullane, from Appy Dude, who developed the app - the Sydney start-up's first - says already hundreds of users are posting pregnant photos of themselves on Facebook to "scare" their friends and family.
"We really just wanted to give people a laugh. It's had an amazing response," he said. "It's all over Facebook with teenage girls scaring their mums and stuff like that."
However, family planning groups have called for the app to be withdrawn from sale.
Email addresses are the keys to the kingdom of all our personal data. A foolproof way to limit your exposure to such attacks is to sign up to different services using as many different un-guessable email addresses as possible. On Tuesday, an app called Gliph made that really easy to do. ReadWriteWeb reports.
Gliph is a free app for iPhone, Android and the mobile Web. You can use it to send encrypted text messages to other Gliph users with as much or as little personal information exposed as you want. And starting today, you can also use it to send and receive email to anyone through your regular email client without ever exposing your identity or information.
Not only can you use Gliph email to sign up for other services without exposing yourself to a hacking, you can use it for Craigslist transactions or any other kind of temporary encounter where you want to exchange contact info.
A service called Mobilescope acts as a watchdog, alerting users when apps copy and transmit sensitive information. MIT Technlogy Review reports via @jranck.
Once a person has signed up for the service, Mobilescope is accessed through a website, not as an app installed onto a device. A user can use the site to see logs of the data transferred by the apps on their device. They can also specify "canaries," pieces of sensitive information such as a phone number, e-mail or name that trigger an alert if they are sent out by an app.
Mobilescope can catch apps doing things such as copying a person's address book to a remote server, as Path and several other mobile apps were found to do earlier this year. Soltani says the service is intended to level the playing field between mobile apps and the people that use them by arming users with more information about what those apps do.
When it's hot and humid, you probably don't want to move much and aren't very hungry. The same goes for cows; but when they don't eat, farmers lose money. npr reports.
Researchers at the University of Missouri think they can help avoid those losses. They've produced a new mobile appthat can detect the threat of heat stress in cows using nothing more than a smartphone.
Heat stress can persist for three days before an animal starts eating less. The way University of Missouri researchers see it, that's three days of missed opportunities to cool down a cow and keep it healthy. The mobile app they've produced, called Thermal Aid and scheduled for release this fall, puts the information farmers need right in their hands.
Neiman Marcus has developed a location-aware iPhone application called NM Service that adds a heightened level of personalization to its in-store shopping experience. PSFK reports.
The opt-in service allows a customer to program the app’s preferences to automatically alert sales associates when they walk into the store, providing staff with instant access to their shopping history and Facebook profile image, and if a customer prefers to browse on their own when first entering the store, they can simply “check-in” whenever they are ready for assistance.
Coolest Gadgets reviews PrivacyStar, an app and paid solution that lets you block calls and texts, receive call and text ID information, lookup dreaded unknown calls or texts, file an FTC complaint, and more.
Launching this week, the company’s new iPhone app features profiles of kids in developing countries who desperately require surgeries. You can donate directly through the app and receive real-time updates on the patient’s progress.
Richard Hickman of 
In yet another lovely example of turning a smartphone into a medical product, researchers at the 
Startup Sherpa’s predictive intelligence offers valuable insights when and where you need them. 
An 
An iPhone app and peripheral device that allows doctors to use the iPhone camera to take photographs of the interior surface of the eye has received 510(K) FDA clearance, according to 
The team at 
A smartphone app which provides summaries of news stories soared to number nine in Apple's app store just two hours after its release in the US, reports the 
Smartphone owners who catch a new ads campaign by Wonderbra are invited to watch as supermodel Adriana Cernanova “unveils her secrets.” 
Email addresses are the keys to the kingdom of all our personal data. A foolproof way to limit your exposure to such attacks is to sign up to different services using as many different un-guessable email addresses as possible. On Tuesday, an app called 
A service called 
When it's hot and humid, you probably don't want to move much and aren't very hungry. The same goes for cows; but when they don't eat, farmers lose money. 
