Your Future Smartwatch May Charge Wirelessly and Last Longer

Some smartwatches, such as the Pebble, can last for nearly a week without requiring a charge. But wrist-worn gadgets of the future could survive even longer. New Bluetooth advancements and technology from Broadcom promise to improve the wearable tech experience by extending battery life and maintaining a stronger connection with your smartphone.

Broadcom's newly announced BCM20736 system-on-a-chip features a design that's both energy efficient and small enough to conserve space inside wearable gadgets such as smartwatches. The SoC combines Bluetooth, an ARM processor and wireless charging into one 6.5 x 6.5mm entity, meaning you may not have to use a proprietary charger for your next smart wristlet. Broadcom claims that this tiny form factor and highly integrated design will extend battery life for future wearables, but hasn't given a specific estimate. The company is currently sampling the chip with evaluation boards.

At the same time, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has unveiled some significant advancements that will keep your smartwatch tied even closer to your smartphone. The new Bluetooth 4.1 wireless standard will enable devices to remember a severed connection for longer periods of time. That means the watch would automatically pair with your mobile device when it's within range again, eliminating the hassle of having to whip out your smartphone to reconnect manually. Bluetooth 4.1 is set to roll out as an over-the-air update, which means you don't need to purchase a new device to see the benefits.

These enhancements serve to answer some of the minor qualms users experience with today's smartwatches. Some critics have reported that Samsung's Galaxy Gear watch can only last for about one day during mixed use, although the company recently issued an update to improve battery life. As the smartwatch transitions from a niche market into the mainstream, these types of improvements could give wearables a larger appeal.

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Touch ID on Apple’s iPhone 5s is losing accuracy over time for some users

The shine is already wearing off of Apple’s new Touch ID technology for some iPhone 5s owners. Apple unveiled its latest flagship iPhone this past September and along with it, a new embedded fingerprint scanner brought about by the company’s 2012 acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec for $356 million. Dubbed Touch ID, the new technology places a sapphire glass-covered fingerprint scanner in the home button of Apple’s iPhone 5s and allows users to unlock the device or authenticate App Store purchases with just the touch of a finger. The new tech is among a few main selling points for the iPhone 5s, but a new report suggests some users are already having trouble with it after less than three months on the market.

“Dr. Drang,” who is described by 5by5 as “a consulting engineer well known amongst nerds on the Internet,” recently wrote on his blog And now it’s all this that he’s having some issues with Touch ID on his iPhone.

“I’ve been using Touch ID since I got an iPhone 5s in mid-October,” Drang wrote. “Generally speaking, I like it, and I find it faster than the old swipe-and-passcode method, but I’ve felt compelled to reteach it my fingerprints twice already. I know this sounds impossible, but its recognition of my prints seems to decay with time.”

The good doctor continued, “I rescanned my fingers this weekend, and Touch ID has been amazingly fast and accurate since then. Just as it was when I first got the 5s, and just as it was a few weeks later when I rescanned my fingers for the first time. Just before each rescan, though, I was so frustrated with Touch ID I felt like throwing the phone across the room.”

Curious indeed, but one isolated issue doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a problem. According to John Gruber ofDaring Fireball, however, the issue isn’t exactly isolated.

“Drang is not alone — I’ve had a handful of readers ask me about this recently,” Gruber noted. “Makes me think there’s something to it. Me, personally, though, I haven’t noticed any drop-off in accuracy.”

Like Gruber, we haven’t experienced any issues with the print reader on our devices. We also haven’t seen any reports of this issue outside of the ones noted above. The iPhone 5s is still less than three months old, however, so this may be something to watch for as time progresses.

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Apple's iBeacon location-aware shopping goes live today

Apple is switching on "iBeacons" across its 254 US stores today, according to a report from the Associated Press. iBeacons, which use low-power Bluetooth transmitters to offer location-aware services to your phone, were quietly introduced along with iOS 7, and although other retailers have toyed with the idea of adding beacons to its stores, Apple's rollout today represents the first major deployment of the technology.

The Apple Store iBeacons will work in tandem with the Apple Store app. Provided you've got the app on your phone and have given Apple permission to track you, it'll attempt to offer an augmented retail experience tailored to your needs. When you walk into the store and the app will enter "in-store mode." If you're standing next to an iPhone table you might receive a message asking if you'd like to upgrade your iPhone. If you like, the app will then check your upgrade eligibility and let you know how much you can trade in your old model for. Another example given involves notifications that will automatically bring up your order number as you walk up to a clerk to pick it up.

APPLE IBEACONS KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE

The Associated Press reports that around 20 transmitters have been switched on at Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York City, each adjusted to specific distances. Some of the transmitters are actual Bluetooth transmitters, while others are signals generated by iPads already installed at the store. Adjusting the strength of the signal allows Apple to show notifications relevant to exactly where you are standing. Such accuracy isn't easy with traditional location systems like GPS, especially indoors. It's not clear if the Apple Store application will require an update to display iBeacon information, but the transmitters are reportedly live in stores today.

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MIT Video - Double Cone and Plane

MIT Video - Double Cone and Plane
A double cone is placed on the bars of an inclined plane. Instead of rolling down the plane the cone rolls up. Although the plane slants upward, the bars diverge so that the rotational axis of the cone, which passes through the center of mass, actually moves downward.

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Global PlayStation 4 sales reach 2.1 million units

And Sony wants to make sure you know that the tally accounts for actual sales to consumers, not just shipments to retailers' stockrooms.

Sony's PlayStation 4 has hit another important milestone, some two weeks after the console launched.

Sony on Tuesday announced that global PlayStation 4 sales have reached 2.1 million units worldwide. The company was quick to point out that the tally includes actual sales to consumers and not merely shipments into the retail channel.

The PlayStation 4 hit North America on November 15 and quickly became a sales hit. Sony announced at that time that it sold 1 million PlayStation 4 units in just 24 hours to customers in the US and Canada. On November 29, the company launched the console elsewhere around the world. It's now available in 32 countries.

Although sales figures for console units mean little in the grand scheme of gaming enjoyment, they've long been a barometer of the success (or failure) of a console. That's precisely why both Sony and Microsoft have announced initial sales figures with their recent console launches.

Microsoft last month announced that its Xbox One reached 1 million units sold in 24 hours, as well. However, the Xbox One launched in 13 markets, compared to only two for Sony's PlayStation 4. Microsoft has not shared unit sales figures since last month.

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