gadgets

Scientists have developed a low-cost sensor made from semiconducting plastic that can be used to diagnose or monitor a wide range of health conditions, such as surgical complications or neurodegenerative diseases. The sensor can measure the amount of critical metabolites, such as lactate or glucose that are present in sweat, tears, saliva or blood, and, when incorporated into a diagnostic device, could allow health conditions to be monitored quickly, cheaply and accurately. The device, described in the journal Science Advances, has a far simpler design than existing sensors, and opens up a wide range of new possibilities for health monitoring down to the cellular level. Semiconducting plastics are being developed for use in solar cells and flexible electronics, but have not yet seen widespread use in biological applications. "In our work, we've overcome many of the limitations of conventional electrochemical biosensors that incorporate enzymes as the sensing mate...

Revelations that an  Amazon Echo smart speaker inadvertently sent a family's private conversation to an acquaintance  highlights some unexpected risks of new voice-enabled technologies. According to Amazon, the fault was an "unlikely" series of inadvertent vocal cues that triggered the speaker, caused it to begin recording and then led it to interpret subsequent conversation as a "send message" request. There's no way to eliminate these sorts of privacy risks short of unplugging entirely. But you can minimise the odds of unpleasant privacy surprises with these tips: 1. Kill the mic Most smart speakers have a physical button to disable the microphone, so a private conversation can't be recorded to begin with. You can hit that when you're having sensitive conversations. The button on the  Echo  will turn red; other devices have similar cues. It doesn't make sense to keep the mic disabled throughout the day, though. If the Echo can't hea...

Raising fresh concerns about Facebook's privacy protection policies, a New York Times report has exposed how the social network allowed about 60 device makers, including Apple and Samsung, to access personal information of users and their friends. Even before Facebook apps were widely available on smartphones, Facebook had data-sharing partnerships with the device makers, the report said citing company officials, adding that most of the deals remain in effect. While the device partnerships allowed Facebook to expand its reach, it let the phone makers offer customers popular features of the social network, such as messaging, "like" buttons and address books. The deals raise concerns about the company's privacy protections and compliance with a 2011 consent decree with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The Times said. Facebook, which is already under scrutiny for misuse of millions of its users' data after the Cambridge Analytica data leak scanda...

A bug is being forwarded via messages, which when tapped, could send not just the WhatsApp Android app crashing but possibly even the entire Android device as well, the media reported. "As with any message bomb, it involves sending and receiving a specially crafted message with hidden symbols in between spaces. Tapping on a portion of the text will basically make the app 'expand' the hidden symbols, potentially overloading the app and even the OS," SlashGear reported on Sunday. Such messages or "message bombs" are not new and not limited to Android. Even iMessage is not immune to bugs that could send the app crashing. There seem to be two variants of this WhatsApp message being forwarded. One involves an ominous black dot that comes with a warning on what will happen if you tap on it, which most curious cats will do anyway," the report added. Another "message bomb" which is causing the messaging platform to crash is more "...

The world's botanic gardens contain at least 30 per cent of all known plant species, including 41 per cent of all those classed as "threatened", a new study revealed on Monday. Through analysing datasets compiled by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the team led by researchers from the University of Cambridge cross-referenced the working list of known plant species — currently sitting at 350,699 — with the species records of a third of botanic gardens on the planet, some 1,116 institutions. This provides a "minimum estimate" for the plant diversity held in botanic gardens, Xinhua quoted the team as saying. The study found that the global network of botanic gardens conserves living plants representing almost two-thirds of plant "genera" (the classification above species) and over 90 per cent of plant families. But the team also pointed out that there is a significant imbalance between temperate and tropical regions. Some...

Following the launch of a separate  WhatsApp for Business  application and integrating  UPI Payments  in its native app, WhatsApp is reportedly testing a number of new features for Android through its beta program. A number of new features are spotted in latest WhatsApp beta versions for Android and iOS platforms. These features include group voice & video calling, group description, standalone iPad application, broader WhatsApp Pay support, and Facebook Messenger like Stickers. Let’s take a look at the features WhatsApp planning to introduce in the next updates. Add Group Description WhatsApp is  experimenting  a feature that allows administrators of a group chat on the app to add a description for the group. There will be a new “About Us” section for groups, and the description can be seen by all group members at the top of group info section. All members of the group chat will have the option to modify the description as per requirement by ...

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps globally with over 1.5 billion monthly active users. Its popularity is mainly driven by the ease of use, and the number of features the Facebook-owned platform offers to its users. For WhatsApp, last year was particularly important with the application adding a ton of new features including voice calling, video calling to name a few. One of the most prominent updates was the ability to recall messages. WhatsApp  called  the feature as ‘delete for all’, and it gives users a brief window to delete messages from both the ends of communication. WhatsApp allows its users to delete the message sent within seven minutes by deleting it for the sender as well as receiver. However,  The Next Web reports  that there is a way to retain the deleted messages. It notes that deleted messages can be retained as soon as the receiver gets the message or at any point between seven minutes, after which the message cannot be del...