Apple Granted Patent for Wireless Disposable Wristband

Apple has been granted patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office on communication between a devices like the iPad or iPhone and a wireless disposable wristband and the technology could be used for disposable wristband which can store as well as transmit all health related information to the doctor’s smartphone.

Earlier reports state that the Apple Patent covers up technology for an autonomous battery free microwave frequency communication device which could be embedded on physical object like the wristband, card or flyer and in the patent it is described how the smartphone can wirelessly transmit the data collected to a disposable hospital wristband.

The incorporated microwave frequency device also contains sensors or stored information like medical records or procedures which have been carried out during hospitalization. The smartphone would be capable of both reading as well as writing information to and from the wristband.

One Card in the Wallet

The Apple patent suggests that the wristband should have sensors which can measure some health functions like the body temperature and the pulse. Apple had announced its health app, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, a type of dashboard for all health as well as fitness data. It was believed that Apple iWatch could also be accompanied with sensors which would be capable of evaluating health and fitness information providing software developers with the opportunity of collecting and using the said information in their apps.

The patent did not focus solely on health related functions for an embedded microwave frequency device but described how the given information can be conveyed from a mobile device to disposable loyalty cards or credit or ad flyers. It further states that the technology also has the possibility of `one card in the wallet’, for various purposes such as payment, promotions and identification.

Communication wristbands – Patient Identification 

Coloured wristbands can be worn for various purposes to show support for a certain cause or an organization and comes in various colours which may have some messages embossed on them. In the case of hospitals, coloured wristbands are used to convey information or to alert the staff to a certain requirements of the patient. When the patients wear their own coloured wristbands, it may cause confusion for the staff who may misinterpret its significance.

A communication gateway wristband serves as a source of patient identification as well as an interface between wireless wide area network- WWAN like a hospital network and a personal area networks– PAN of miniaturized electronic medical sensors on a patient. The gateway wristband comprises of a PAN transceiver which acts as a wireless data link with wireless medical sensors.

The WWAN transceiver establishes a wireless data link with its infrastructure, a memory that can store the identification of a patient as well as a processor that can receive data through the PAN transceiver and convey the information received to an external network through the WWAN transceiver. The processor on the other hand manages communication with the PAN as well as the WWAN transceiver, stores the received sensor date in memory, and translates the data from the PAN protocol to the WWAN protocol to enable the sensor data to be relayed to the hospital infrastructure.

iPhone 6 Modified Recessed Volume Button Cut-Outs

A month ago, the luxury modified iPhone vendor, Feld & Volk – Instagram page, shared a few high quality photos and video of the purported rear shell of the iPhone, while it had not been polished or fully processed and was in an intermediate stage of production, though it still offers a look at the body of the device. Feld & Volk who has received the completed 4.7 inch iPhone 6 rear shell, has shared some of the new photos, revealing some features not indicated in the earlier information.

These include a good look at the volume button cut-outs which have been slightly recessed in a change enabling a lower profile along the edges with decreased likelihood of accidental volume changes. The new images are put on display and are believed to be the final casing for the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 and with it we now have some details which had not been given earlier. Similar recesses have also been seen, on a purported perfect replica for the volume buttons and have been claimed as actual rear shell for the iPad Air.

Extraordinary Scratch Resistance Metal

A look at the embedded Apple logo by Feld & Volk’s photos is also offered, which Apple has not used on the iPhone from the time of the original iPhone in 2007 and as per Feld & Volk’s statement, the embedded logo is said to be similar to the original iPhone and it is made of very extraordinary scratch resistant metal which is presumed to be of liquid metal alloy, though there is no specific proof which supports this issue.

Another image portrays it to be an external camera ring measuring 6.66 mm in diameter and fits accurately on the rear camera hole of the shell. Design drawings and physical mock-ups which have been revealed convey that the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 would be seeing a protruding rear camera as in the case of the current iPod touch though the rumours have shown it to be a flush camera for the smaller 4.7 inch model. It is now left to be seen if the camera ring would be paired with the rear shell of the 4.7 inch model or not.

Flex cable, New Home Button

The last image is shown with a flex cable which is the source for the iPhone 6 and as in the case of the previous rumour, it is speculated by Feld &Volk that it could be the new home button but as MacRumours points out that based on its length it more likely tuned towards the flex cable for an iPad and not for its upcoming iPhone..

Apple is all set to launch the iPhone 6 very soon during the event which will be coming up in September and it is confirmed that Apple will be holding its annual iPhone media event then though it is not clear that both 4.7 inch as well as 5.5 inch models would be arriving together. Probably, the 4.7 inch model would be launched roughly one and a half week after the event based on earlier release patterns.

Apple’s Yosemite – A variety of Changes

Apple has been highlighting a variety of changes for OS X Yosemite in its feature page on the release beginning with a more modern and flatter look for OS X, with its focus on translucency, streamlined toolbars with smarter controls, the base OS X system which includes various feature improvements such as `Today’ view in the updated Notification Centre.

It provides a wide variety of information which includes integration with third party apps while Spotlight search which has also been improved with updated data sources, acts like a search engine by taking in data from Wikipedia, movies, Map, news etc.

The new Notification Centre in Mac OS X 10.10 would be very useful than the earlier version with the addition of both the Today view as well as the widgets and after using if for the past few weeks, the upgrades to the Notification Centre move the OS in Yosemite further ahead of Windows unless one would prefer the Windows 8 live tiles as a good option to check notifications. Mac OS X Mavericks does have a notification centre with slide out window from the right and access with a swipe or by touching a button in the upper right.

Mac OS X Mavericks Performs with Toast Notification 

The notification centre in Mac OS X Mavericks performs with toast notification- floating popup bubbles, towards the upper right of the screen and a sidebar to keep track on the latest notifications.

Moreover, the toast notification enables you to answer iMessage directly for instance if one gets an incoming FaceTime call, they can reply with an iMessage within the Toast notification.

These are helpful tools though when they come from the sidebar part which tracks all notification in Mavericks; it tends to get less useful.Yosemite has the same functions with the usual updates but with the addition of new Today view and widget from the Apple’s core apps and from third party software with more information readily available at one’s fingertips.

In Yosemite, the notification centre is more useful and besides being able to use the Toast notification and review missed messages in the sidebar it adds another tab at the top to see the Today view.

Today View Connects with Calendar ….

The Today view can connect with the calendar, reminders, social networks and much more, enabling the viewer with a quick overview of the days’ activities. One can view the appointments, meetings, reminders, if they have been set in the reminder app, birthday updates, as well as the current weather in the area, all of which is done with clean design indicating each category and is easy to view at a glance.

With the addition of widgets, the sidebar notification centre tends to be more useful. Earlier assigned to the Dashboard, users can add core Apple widgets like weather, stocks, world clocks, calendar, calculator etc. which will enable them to interact directly without the need of exiting from the notification centre.

These are all included in the launch of Yosemite, this fall, which according to Apple; users would be able to add widgets from third party app developers from the Mac App Store.

Apple’s New Launch - Apple TV in Newest Beta

With the arrival of the beta 4 update, Apple has finally launched a new Apple TV software beta alongside iOS 8 beta and the fifth Yosemite beta which includes the long awaited interface update and the design is said to be very dramatic.

The new interface consists of new icons which have been designed to resemble the icons in iOS7 with a less glossy and a flatter look. Many icons have new colours like the computers, music, movies and TV shows and the slim Helvetica Neue font that Apple had adopted previously with iOS7. The on-screen have also been updated.

Earlier Apple TV beta had added new Family sharing options together with support for iCloud photos and both these features have been introduced in OS X Yosemite and iOS 8. Presently the Apple TV beta is only available to the registered developers though the updated software would be released to the public at large in fall probably along with the launch of iOS 8.

The new Apple TV update can be downloaded by registered developers from the iOS Dev Centre. Apple has not completely done away with the grid of icons approach for Apple TV but has revamped the UI, an iOS 7 style makeover with a new set of icons which are flatter than their earlier counterparts.

Default Icons Reworked/Weight of Typeface Changed

Each of the default iconshave been reworked with more modern cover to avoid the present defunct iOS gloss effect for a matte finish while the background starburst effect which has been given leads to gradients that is present in iOS 7. Besides this, the weight of the typeface has been changed to slightly thinner with the icons no more casting reflections.

The pictographs have also been changed to make them look sleek and the `setting’, icon has been given a radical change with the same nested gears icon found in the latest Apple mobile and desktop operating systems.Lastly, the glow which surrounds the currently selected icons are tightened to include a better define white ring offset by a small black margin.

Apple TV User Interface Paradigm 

On the whole the Apple TV user interface paradigm seems to be largely unchanged from its earlier debut in the year 2007 and rumours have been spreading for years which picked up steam in 2011 with the publication of the autobiography of Steve Job, where the late Apple CEO was quoted as saying that he had `finally cracked’, the television issue.

These rumours came up in the early 2014 when various media outlets recommended that a refresh would be essential but nothing materialized till then. With recent reports, there are indications that Apple’s new set top solutionwas stalled since negotiations prolonged with the content providers.

Consistent design across platform is a good thing though third party apps tend to hold on to their same old icons and getting some consistency there, keeping in mind the platform as a whole has not been drawing much attention of late. The latest update is likely to come around the same time iOS 8 would come, this fall.

Russia’s Proposal to Apple and SAP

A proposal has been made by Russia to Apple and SAP that they hand over the government access of their source code in order to ensure that their widely used products would not used as tools for spying on state institutions.

 The suggestion that these two world’s renowned technology companies could reveal some of their sensitive business secrets has come up as the United States and Europe have been debating on their most severe sanctions against Russian for its role in Ukraine.

Recently, the United States forced a new round of sanction affecting three Russian banks which included the country’s second biggest VTB. An agreement was reached with the European Union, recently on its first broad economic sanctions, marking a new phase in one of the biggest debates between Moscow and the West since this confrontation.

Last week when Communication Minister Nikolai Nikiforov met Apple’s general manager in Russia, along with Peter Engrob Nielsen and the Russian managing director of SAP, Vyacheslav Orekhov, the Russian proposal was put forward, as stated by the Communication Ministry.

It was stated that the proposal had been designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as corporate users to the privacy of their personal data and also for the security of the state.

Major Threat to Viability

With regards to issue of protecting privacy, any Russian move to force these companies to disclose the inner workings of their software could create a major threat to their viability should they lose control of the source code.

According to Nikiforov’s statement released recently, he states that, `Edward Snowden’s revelation in 2013 and US intelligence service’s public statements about strengthening of surveillance of Russia in 2014, have raised serious questions of trust in foreign software and hardware’.

He had made a reference to the bombshell disclosures by the former US National Security Agency contractor who had disclosed the widespread NSA snooping by eavesdropping on the popular technology products and services. Experts, since then have arrived at a conclusion that the US government-backed standards for software encryption, has given rise to backdoors for the NSA to indulge in spying on users.

Nations – Revise Technology Practices 

Governments from China to India to Germany to Brazil and many other nations are trying to revise technology practices due to the NSA revelation though most of them refrain from asking the technology companies to disclose their source code and source code is the crown jewels for any maker of software.

Most of the major commercial software companies tend to guard the code as their most prized possession. Apple which is the world’s most renowned and reputed company, by market capitalisation, is popular for its distinctive varieties of computer and phone devices which it tries to stand out by closely guarding its proprietary software.

SAP on the other hand is the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of business software by revenue and Germany’s major technology company providing business planning software which several top multinational companies consider in maintaining financial control of their far scattered operations and keeps close guard over the source code of their products. Both SAP and Apple have refrained from commenting on this issue.