iScout ‘Head up Display’ Helps Drivers with Directions and Blind Spots

iScout Head-Up-Displays for Safe Driving

Having no standouts on the markets, Heads-Up Displays – HUDs for cars did not catch up and a new competitor, iScoutis making attempts in addressing several of these issues. iScout is a patent that is pending HUD which develops all information needed for driving like fuel level, car speed, GPS navigation as a floating virtual image before the vehicle. It syncs to the smartphone displaying incoming calls, reminders, messages, social media content together with notifications and several other features like blind-spot view accompanied with an integrated dashcam.

 It shows notifications from apps such as WhatsApp, rejects or takes call with a hand-wave and tends to have blind-spot cameras. The purpose of HUD is to make driving much safer wherein the driver will not have the need to take his eyes off the road for any information needed while driving. Recent study indicates that it takes less time for the driver to get this information from a HUD as against looking at a conservative display – phone screen/GPS device, as it takes substantially lesser time for the eye to move the focus from the road to the display and back. This warrants that the attention of the driver is on the road and hence tends to lessen the accident risks.

Photochromic Display Works in Day/Night Conditions

It is launching on Kickstarter and may never be shipped. With this bit of doubt out of the way, the company tends to have a solid-looking sample together with plenty of good features. The `photochromic display works in both day and night conditions and seems to have its own app and GPS to display heads-up route direction. Moreover the device also tends to connects to the smartphone over Bluetooth, enabling the user to accept or reject calls by waving your hand, for instance while keeping the GPS on the screen.

 The user can also compose text through voice dictation and view notifications from apps like WhatsApp and Twitter or even control music from Spotify etc. Since iScout has the capability of connecting with the OBD plug of the vehicle, you could also view information such as fuel level, speed and maintenance problems. Should you be running short of gas, it could indicate an alert, guiding you to the nearest service station.

Premium Model – Blind Spot Cameras

Premium model tend to have blind spot cameras which activates automatically when turn signals are used helping to keep the eyes on the road. With regards to the camera, the device has a forward looking dashcam in the event of any accidents. The product is being marketing by the company as a safety device. However, receiving notifications on the device could be as distracting as checking the same on the phones. According to the company, it’s about as safety-friendly as one is going to get in a connect car.

The display for instance `is focused into the distance and shown just below your line of sight, which means that it will need very little of your attention to check your GPS, speed together with the other information compared to in-car on-dash devices. The iScout is on pre-order for basic edition, starting at $269 and $299 for premium model with blind spot cameras.

The New Sacai Apple Watch and Other Very Stylish Tech Accessories

The expression, `tech case’ tends to be a developing market with more options. For instance it could displease your attention to know that the floral pouches that are seen at Gucci’s recent catwalks had been made to be precisely spacious enough to slot in an iPad. Other advanced brands have been developing ladylike bags, pochettes and briefcase which are useful besides looking stylish. For instance, Knomo tends to offer `power clutch bags’ in its line of organisers which tend to feature padded tech segments with unique MyKnomo ID codes to assist reunite owners with lost belongings. Its power pouches tend to incorporate a portable battery pack in order to keep your device charged while on the go. Aspinal of London has also transformed its classic bags by converting them into `tech totes’ while Marylebone style stocks bonus internal pockets, cable paths as well as a 3700mAh battery which tends to provide over double the regular battery power of a Smartphone or iPhone. Moreover it also tends to come in a somewhat smooth monogrammed case. The following are the five accessories which tend to make your work day extra efficient:

The Clever Clutch Bag 

The Enomo’s Elektronista clutch bag is said to be a modern dream of woman. It is encased within the pastel leather with more pockets than one will know what to do with them and a compact battery. One will never have the opportunity of losing anything.

The Briefcase 

It is not manly or old-fashioned and has several pockets as well as device compartments within its glossy, slim frame and the blue hue means that it can be used for weekend excursions without being incompatible against denims.

New Designer Apple Watch 

One of the favourite cult designers in the fashion industry has partnered with the biggest technology company in the world and has come up with a fat sensual watch strap. The attractive Chitose Abe of Sacai is perceptive behind the crisp cotton shirts with flowing pleated backs all across the high street why the puffa jacket seems to be having a stylish moment this winter. Sacai has now turned out to be the second luxury house after Hermes to assist Apple fashion up its lustrous watch. While Hermes had created a stealth leather addition, Abe has engaged her trademark wit turning the watch into a glossy jewellery piece, black faces which tend to come with customised screensaver front by Abe in order that the screen as well as the strap blends effortlessly into one. The strap is pleasantly coarse, in black, gold or black and silver chain repetition on one side, with crocodile embossed leather on the other side.

Punchy iPad Case 

The inside of the dark, cavernous tote bags is brought to life with a colour-pop iPad sleeve and investing in a leather style would ensure that your case stays punchy for long, which means that it would be easier to find whiledelving through everything in search of one’s gadget.

Crafty Organiser

This hard-working case which has the look of a diary, tends to have your iPad mini together with an additional notepad and card slots and seems impeccable in putting together and super-organised for meetings.

The Smart Earplugs That are Giving 20,000 US Soldiers 'Super Hearing’ and They Could be Coming to Your iPhone

Smart Earbuds to Diminish High-Level Instinct Noise

With more than half of the troops returning from battle zones having some kind of damage to their hearing now around 20,000 military members seem to be using earbuds which tends to diminish the high-level instinct noises while intensifying very low signature kinds of sound for great hearing capabilities. The military device known as Tactical Communication and Protective System – TCAPS, can be utilised in headset for all ranges from construction workers to music lovers.

TCAPS tends to reduce noise to 85 decibels, enabling soldiers to hear as well as communicate over loudnoise of gunfire which is at least 150 decibels. When placed in the ear, the tip of the earbud tends to sit for 15 to 20 seconds to enlarge to full capacity for comfortable fit where the tips can last from a week to a month based on how clean the ears may be as well as the fit, as reported by Leesville Daily Leader.

The unit tends to bear a resemblance to a traditional pair of earbuds together with some additional high tech features and some of the models can connect to the communication gear of the soldier. TCAPS was first developed in 2007 by Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe.

Earbuds – Solve the Problem of Hearing Damage

Captain Jack Moore, part of the Project Manager Soldier Warrior team stated that the team wished that these earbuds would solve the problem of hearing damage by actively decreasing damaging battlefield noise as well as enhancing the hearing and communication in delivering tactical advantage.

He added that over the years, they have seem a large amount of dollars being spent in benefiting the soldiers who had lost their hearing in training or battle and that they are now attempting to resolve the problem in a way which they can not only get improved hearing protection but also an improvement in communication competences integrated too. Lt. Col Kristen Casto, audiology consultant to the Army’s surgeon general had informed NPR that `your ears cannot handle loud sounds without suffering mechanical damage to the inner ear which results in permanent hearing loss’.

Adjustable Volume Knobs

Casto explained that the soldiers have turned to a simple way of protecting their ears by sticking a piece of expandable foam in the ear though when the need to maintain auditory awareness arises, it is not the proper hearing protector. TCAPS could only provide soldiers with protection from high ambient sounds as well situational alertness though the device permits clear two-way audio communication between the radio and the user.

Doug Brungart, chief scientist at the audiology and speech pathology centre at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre informed that the technology is not actually that complicated and adds that you can think of the system as having adjustable volume knob. The louder the sound tends to get outside, the more it seems to turn down the volume and the person wearing the device could still hear the sound though it will never get so loud that it would cause any kind of damage.

8 Reasons you are finally Going to Wear Your Apple Watch

The Next Software Update of Apple Watch 

Apple had made an announcement at its yearly developer conference on Monday and renamed OS X to MacOS showing off new features on TVOS. The succeeding software update for Apple Watch - Watch OS 3 drew a lot of attention and tends to look exceptional. The following are the eight features which seem to make the Apple Watch a lot better:

1. No staring blankly at the wrist

The Apple Watch from the first day, has been overwhelmed with slow loading time for apps and presently the process goes thus - one can raise their wrist and tap on an app icon, the circular, spinning dots start up and with the wrist raised, on can walk the dog, take out the trash, or take a nap and then the app tends to eventually load. According to Apple, with WatchOS 3, the mostly used apps seem to load seven times faster. The onstage demo of app launching seemed to be inspiring and if it tends to work the same after the WWDC stage, loading the app faster would be making the watch very helpful.

2. Apple Watch gets an app dock

Now with the loading of app being much faster, it could be reasonable to have a quicker access to these apps. Apple presently has included an app dock which is similar to MacOS or iOS and you could set some apps to reside in the dock and open the dock quickly on pressing the side button of the watch. On scrolling through the previews of the apps, you could tap on the respective card in launching the app which is much better than using the side button as a shortcut for digital touch.

3. In fitness, compete with friends 

Tracking of activities on the Apple Watch has been remote since the same cannot be shared or the stats sent to family members or friend and to motivate them for improvement. Apple seems to bring friends on the Activity app wherein one can cheer on or trash talks with those on your list of friends based on their regular activity status.

4. Scribble

Apple has the potential of writing on the watch utilising the finger when at times, one is unable to dictate a message to the watch. Apple has a feature known as Scribble and when it is activated, you can write the message one letter at a time on the screen of the watch. The watch will then identify the handwriting, translating it into text which is ready to be sent as a message.

5. More Apple Pay 

With the launch of WatOS 3 this fall, one will not only have the option of using Apple Pay on tapping your wrist on compatible terminal for payment but also complete purchases directly on your wrist with the help of the app.

6. Improved switching between watch faces

The procedure of switching between watch faces has been enhanced which needs a simple swipe to the right or left across the prevailing watch face. Besides this, the Apple Watch app on the iPhone would now display the complication an app tends to have which would be helpful in making a purchase decision, on being aware precisely what an app seems capable of doing on the wrist.

7. Just Breathe

A health app known as Breathe will alert you to take a moment and breathe and the thinking here is that you take some minutes daily to clear your mind and be more conscious of your breathing to relax and reduce stress levels.

8. Accessibility 

Apple has created a wheelchair mode for the Apple Watch and when activated, user would get credit for activity as they move around in a wheelchair. Instead of getting hourly alert to stand up, wheelchair user would be informed that `it’s time to roll’.

Apple Patent Hints at 'Bone Conduction' Headphones

Apple Researching on Bone Conduction Technology

Patent awarded to Apple recently indicates that the company has been researching on the use of bone conduction technology in enhancing voice call quality in its EarPod headphones. The US Patent portrayed a diagram specifying a pair of wired earbuds having an internal accelerometer that tends to distinguish between the voice of the user and ambient noise by just sensing the vibrations in the bone structure of the user.

The technology is said to be in contrast to prevailing bone conduction headphones like the AfterShokz Bluez which seem to transmit sound through cheekbones so one hears the music rattling around in the head. Apple has also been awarded another patent for a `liquid resistant acoustic device’ with a mesh umbrella which could possibly produce a waterproof speaker port for forthcoming devices.

An identical component tends to exist in the Apple Watch. A patent has developed portraying that Apple is considering experimenting with waterproofing features for a forthcoming iPhone build and a second patent could lead to EarPods that tend to have the prospective of noise-cancelling through an integrated accelerometer and a bone conduction procedure.

Patent – Liquid Resistant Acoustic Device

The patent for liquid resistant acoustic device tends to define how a standard headphone jack could comprise of an `umbrella section’ in the prevention of internal damage to a device. Being filed way back in July 2014, the protective measure seems to sound comparable to the O-ring of Apple Watch, in its speaker unit that provides an IPX7 rating for the Watch. Many reports have recommended that the Cupertino Company has been considering water-proofing its 2017 iPhone duplication and the invention defined in the patent could become a part of the construction of the forthcoming iPhone or iPad.

 Though there seems to be many discrepancies on the invention, the solution grips on improving the standard protective mesh layer found in most headphone ports with an `umbrella’ so that probable damage to the internal acoustic device components or to the mesh can be alleviated. Still interesting is another patent that had been filed in March 2013 which tends to define hands-free headphone system centred on an internal accelerometer that has been designed to enhance recorded sound quality.

Accelerometer Retained in Earbud – Utilised in Detecting Vibration of Vocal Chords

The patent which had been spotted by source that  had stated that an accelerometer which has been retained inside an earbud could be utilised in detecting vibration of the vocal chords of the user based on vibration in bones as well as the tissues of the head of the user. This with the aid of an on-wire microphone tends to filter out non-vocal acoustics for the receiver.

A single variant also records the probable use of an inertial sensor as against an accelerometer though most of the listed versions seem to aim on separating `voiced speech as well as unvoiced speech, with the previous being familiar and improved by bone construction.

Irrespective of seeing a `bone conducting’ set of EarPods hitting the market anyone who seem to have been on the receiving end of a inaudible,, distorted hands-free conversation could find some peace in the fact that improvement seems to be at least reflected upon for hand-free quality call.

iPad Pro 9.7 Review

Pro 9.7 –Smart Move by Apple

Apple intends the user to replace the laptop with an iPad, particularly if the laptop seems to be powered by Windows. However, before the changeover, the iPad needs to perform everything that a laptop can do and much more. It is here that the iPad Pro tends to come in. Released at the same time as iPhone SE. one would think that the little brother of iPad Pro could be an afterthought from Apple. However, the Pro 9.7 seems to be everything one would want in a laptop.

It is a smart move of Apple by enfolding the competences of the full size iPad Pro in the dimensions of an iPad Air 2. The outcome is the substantial power of the 12.9inch Pro version though with the added portability of a standard iPad which seems to be very good. WIRED had deserted from a campsite in Dorset to check if there was a possibility of working totally on the iPad Pro 9.7 for a couple of days and then compare the experience to filing copy, dealing with emails as well as web search from a desktop PC. Besides this, the evening entertainment, music as well as video would also have to be provided by the tablet.

Difficult to Differentiate Between Air 2/Pro 9.7

It seems difficult to differentiate between the Air 2 and the Pro 9.7 with its same weight, same dimensions except for the four speaker grilles towards the top and bottom of the casing which has been inherited from the first Pro, which shows the difference.

Moreover, there is also the addition of the keyboard cover with conforming trio of magnets towards the side edge for the purpose of connection and the camera lens tends to stick out a touch on the Pro as well. When it is opened and placed on the table, the Pro’s 2048 x 1536 display with the pixel density of 264ppi deals admirably in the day’s glare. Apple has claimed that fiddling to decrease reflectivity on the table by around 40% cannot be confirmed though in the tests reflections seemed to be much less predominant. This made the sessions of screen-based activity in the open space not only possible but also pleasant.

Edit Three Streams of 4K Videos Simultaneously

The A9X and M9 coprocessor which has been taken from the 12.9 Pro tends to make multitasking on the 9.7, a delight. Moreover the RAM is dropped from 4GB to 2GB though it is not visible and the Pro seemed to handle everything thrown at it, amazingly. For instance, it can edit three streams of 4K video simultaneously.

Till date it is the most powerful iPad with its new A9X chip and does everything an old iPad can do with a much better performance. It is also well-suited with the Apple Pencil as well as the Smart Keyboard and is now made available in a smaller version with a 9.7-inch display. The new model is said to be easier to carry along anywhere though it packs in precisely the same stroke as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the same stellar speakers. It also tends to accept the incredible 12-megapixel iSight camera from the iPhone 7 together with the dual tone LED flash.

Apple Files Patent for Walkie Talkie Headphones

Apple’s Patent for Device to Call over Local Wireless Network

A patent for a device which tends to permit people to call each other over local wireless network has been filed by Apple wherein the patent describes a set of headphones connected to a mobile device. The headphones are said to transmit voice calls to a person wearing an identical set-up and who could be within the range for the devices to get connected. It does not seem that Apple intends to phase out all non-technological human interactions at the moment, though the patent may provide a way to talk securely and subtly in busy environments for individuals.

The device tends to utilise ad hoc wireless network that enables user to speak using encrypted signals, which could be complex to interrupt. The patent states that the other types of local communications like walkie talkies do not support encryption and could be vulnerable to interference. According to the patent, the wireless headsets, elsewhere would permit users to `communicate over secure wireless communication connection while at the same time retain freedom of movement within a range of each other. Moreover, the device could also be capable of automatically detecting and notify similar headsets within a certain range.

Direct Audio Communication Between Users

The patent details features, from the headset, like ambient noise filtering, Bluetooth calls and the ability to control a variety of apps comprising of email and camera.Apple has mentioned in the patent filing that conditions for direct audio communication between users in close vicinity could be less than ideal. For instance where two users seem to be nearby in a noisy atmosphere, direct audio communication between the two could be difficult taking into consideration the interference from ambient noise, that could hinder one or both the users from being able of distinguishing words that are spoken by the other user.

Such ambient noise would need the users to be in proximity of each other, which could impede freedom of movement of one or both the users during the duration of the direct communication. Unrestricted freedom of movement of one or both the user may be essential, in some instances and a headset which tends to double as walkie-talkie device could handle these issues. Digital communication suite tends to offer improvements such as signal encryption as well as multi-user conference calling. Besides, ambient noise could also be filtered through the application of dedicated software.

Patent First Filed in November 2014

The wireless headphone does not seem to be the only development which Apple has been probably keeping a secret for the moment. The German paper Franfurter Allgemeine, had reported in April, that the firm has been setting up a dedicated `car lab’ in Berlin. The rumoured plan of Apple to launch an electric car, the German car lab, by 2019, is intended to bring `15 to 20’ of the top automotive engineers of the country on site to play with the idea, which is likely to be connected to Project Titan.

As in the case of all patents, there is no surety that the product would develop and Apple refrains from commenting on rumours. It is not clear whether the company intends to implement such technology. The advanced walkie-talkie patent application of Apple had first been filed in November 2014, crediting Esge B. Andersen and Cedrik Bacon as the inventors.