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Quick review: Keycard unlocks your Mac when you’re nearby, but…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://vimeo.com/52132178

Keycard from Appuous is a nifty new app which keeps your Mac secure by locking your OS X user account automatically when you're not around. It does this by using your Bluetooth connection to check for your iPhone or iPad's presence, thereby detecting when you've stepped away from your computer or returned to it. Of course, unless you remember to take the paired device with you, Keycard won't be up for the task.

On the surface, the idea seems pretty useful as the app turns your iOS device into a personal 'keycard' of sorts. However, it isn't without pitfalls and the flashy promo video doesn't mention the fine print. I installed the program and after spending a few minutes with it immediately noticed a couple issues you should be aware of...

Beware, thieves want your ID to buy iPhones

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 7, 2013

Apple's iPhone for thieves is like a bar of gold with earbuds. The smartphone has been blamed for a rise in urban crime, been the target of mafia heists - even fostered one iPhone owner to launch an online sting operation. Now comes word thieves have found a more direct route to your iPhone - your identity.

Identity theft is now the hottest way to buy an iPhone and stick you with the bill. The key is instant credit used by Apple to provide online financing to purchase an iPhone, Mac or other iDevice. The typical bill from ID theft of Apple products averages between $1,500 to $2,000, according to a fraud investigator who talked with Reuters...

Job ad indicates Gigabit Wi-Fi due on Apple gear

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

A report last week hinted Apple might be working with chip maker Broadcom to outfit upcoming Macs with faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi chips and now a new piece of evidence has surfaced supporting the claim. The new Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard, also known as Gigabit Wi-Fi, is currently undergoing revisions.

It promises to substantially boost data transfer speeds between compatible devices. Looks like Apple is on the lookout for a System Test Engineer in 802.11 Wi-Fi who is required to have technical knowledge of the new 802.11ac standard...

CES 2013: Griffin’s new PowerDock charges five devices simultaneously

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Griffin Technology is on a roll at CES 2013. Among the product announcements they made at the show is this ultimate charging station that I'd definitely make good use of, the PowerDock 5. As the name implies, the main advantage is its design which makes possible charging of up to five iPhones, iPods or iPads at once, an indispensable feature for families that mostly use Apple's mobile products (I know, filthy rich people).

Each of its five charging bays conveniently has a 10-watt, 2.1-amp power supply so you can store and charge, say, five power-hungry, full-size third and fourth generation iPads simultaneously. As if that weren't enough, the badass accessory even accommodates your iPads in their cases. What more could you ask from a charging station?

CES 2013: a ‘smart’ fork arrives, but will it help you eat less?

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

We already have smart TVs (Samsung leads the charge), as well as smart ovens, smart laundry and smart vacuum (all coming from LG in 2013). Heck, we're increasingly wearing app-enabled smart watches around our wrist (we're looking at you, Apple). It really is no surprise then that gadget makers now expect we'll monitor our eating habits using a 'smart' fork?

Enter the Hapifork from Hapilabs, an unusual app-enabled accessory coming this Spring to "greatly improve your digestion", up to the point where "you’ll likely start losing weight". I'm not entirely convinced science exists to back that claim...

Kantar: the iPhone is America’s top smartphone as Android falters

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 7, 2013

Apple's iOS is now the top-selling smartphone operating system in the United States, capturing for the first time more than 50 percent of sales, a new survey finds.

The improvement is the result of repeat iPhone buyers and new smartphone owners purchasing the discounted iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, researchers say.

Android sales fell to 41.9 percent of the US market, a 10.9 percent drop during the same three-month period ended November 25. Meanwhile, Microsoft landed in third place, registering just 2.7 percent of smartphones sold domestically...

CES 2013: Fitbit launches Bluetooth Smart-enabled Flex wristband life tracker

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

Looking to one-up Jawbone's Up wristband, Fitbit today at CES unveiled a new fitness-tracking accessory for your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, the Flex. This tiny tracker fits comfortably around your wrist and arrives as the first wristband on the market to sync with low-power Bluetooth Smart devices.

It has a built-in battery that last up to seven days and will track steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned and even figure your sleeping habits...

Adamant’s iPhone accessory can sniff bad breath

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

Remember how IBM predicted in its annual technology outlook that five years into the future we'll have sensors to measure the smell of any object?

Not content with waiting that long, Adamant Technologies, a San Francisco startup, has created a chip that uses tiny sensors which "take the sense of smell and taste and digitize them". They call it halitosis, or bad breath tracking.

Now, iPhone apps from Adamant are still some time away because the company is just getting ready to mass produce the silicon in a plant in Austin, Texas. The chips will go into a sub-$100 iPhone dongle that should take the standard hand-to-mouth sniff test to the next level...

Netflix inks exclusive Warner Bros. TV deal

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 7, 2013

With just a few days into 2013 we're already seeing the latest skirmish between Netflix and pay-TV veterans. After a weekend deal where HBO gloated it was keeping Universal content out of the hands of the online streaming service, Netflix answered Monday by inking a U.S. deal for television episodes from Warner Bros. The deal gives Netflix exclusive online rights for such Warner Bros Television Group shows as Revolution, Fringe and Kevin Bacon's upcoming FBI potboiler The Following. Perhaps most intriguing was language offering Netflix exclusive online rights to "potential future shows"...

CES 2013: Lego debuts iOS-friendly Mindstorms EV3 programmable robots

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

Toy maker Lego announced at CES 2013 a new line of iOS-compatible toys that let children and robotics hobbyists create and command robots "that do what you want". The kit turns your Lego creations into live robots that can be programmed without a computer. Previous Mindstorms incarnation dating as far back to the original model released in 1998 all required a PC. The Mindstorms EV3 kit comes with the EV3 Intelligent Brick, a programmable unit that un‐tethers robots from the computer and sports its own ARM9 CPU with 64GB of RAM and 16MB of flash storage...

App Store tops 40B downloads, 20B in 2012

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

Apple just announced that its application store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch software, the App Store, has topped a whopping forty billion downloads so far, with almost twenty billion downloads added in the calendar 2012 alone. These are unique downloads that exclude re-downloads and updates. The iPhone maker has also confirmed that as of today the App Store is home to a total of 775,000 active apps for the iOS gadgets (though a million apps passed through the store so far), with 300,000 tailored specifically for iPads...

CES 2013: Hyundai to integrate Apple’s Siri into its vehicles

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2013

After General Motors announced in November it was going to be one of the first car companies to market its new Chevy Sonic and Spark vehicles with the new Siri Eyes Free feature, today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas car maker Hyundai Motor Company also confirmed it will integrate the feature into its vehicles, although the company did not specify which models will be part of the initiative. More information right past the fold...