Month: May 2016

The five qubits in IBM's quantum computer. (credit: IBM)

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, IBM gave an unwary world its first publicly accessible quantum computer. You might be worried that you can tear up your passwords and throw away your encryption, for all is now lost. However, it's probably a bit early to call time on the world as we know it. You see, the whole computer is just five bits.

This might sound like some kind of publicity stunt: maybe it's IBM's way of clawing some attention back from D-Wave's quantum computing efforts. But a careful look shows that there is some serious science underlying the announcement.

The IBM system is, on a very superficial level, similar to D-Wave's. They both use superconducting quantum interference devices as qubits (quantum bits). But the similarity ends there. As IBM emphasizes, its quantum computer is a universal quantum computer, something that D-Wave's is not.

(credit: Apple)

Nearly a year after being introduced, Apple Music might be getting a much-needed revamp. A Bloomberg report suggests that Apple plans to redesign the music streaming service with a more "intuitive" interface and better integration with its other music offerings.

According to "people familiar with the product," Apple's goal is to make Apple Music more user-friendly. It also plans to marry its music download and streaming options better in iTunes while also expanding its radio service. According to the report, content head Robert Kondrk and Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails are overseeing the redesign, which should debut at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The report also suggests that Apple has been struggling with how to best intertwine its download-based iTunes store with its subscription-based music streaming service. Doing this is crucial as it would make the entirety of Apple's music offerings easier for customers to use. The heaviest criticism of Apple Music when it debuted was its confusing interface, so now Apple's challenge is twofold: making the app's UI more intuitive and adding music download capabilities and expanded radio service features into the mix.

Apple's Jeff Williams announces CareKit in March. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Apple has hired Yoky Matsuoka, a cofounder of Google's experimental Google X division and former vice president of Technology at Nest, to work on some of its health initiatives. Fortune reports that Matsuoka is working under Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams on the company's health initiatives, which include HealthKit, ResearchKit, and the recently announced CareKit.

Matsuoka has worked on multiple tech and health initiatives at several big-name companies. After leaving Google X for Nest, Matsuoka helped develop the algorithm for the company's flagship thermostat; her departure from Nest about a year after its 2014 acquisition by Google is one among many. For about a year after leaving the search giant, she worked at Quanttus, a troubled startup working on blood pressure monitoring technology. And shortly before being diagnosed with an apparently cured illness in May, she was headed to Twitter to take a VP position, though this ultimately didn't end up happening.

HealthKit and the Health app were introduced as part of iOS 8 in 2014, and are intended to store and share health tracking information collected from HealthKit-compatible apps with other HealthKit apps and with healthcare professionals. ResearchKit, announced and launched in early 2015, is meant to help researchers gain in-depth data about participants over a longer period of time than would normally be possible. And CareKit, unveiled by Apple in March of this year and officially launched just a few days ago, is meant to help patients recover from major procedures and manage chronic illnesses.

(credit: Garmin)

Garmin continues to add to its wearable family with a new device that could redefine the brand's name—at least when it comes to style. Garmin announced the Vivomove tracker today, an analog watch designed to be worn all day as it monitors activity and sleep.

The first thing you'll notice about the Vivomove is that it's Garmin's most traditional-looking tracker. It's an analog watch with a case finished in numerous colors, including black, white, rose-gold, gold, and silver, with both silicone and leather band options. Yes, it follows the general formula of other fitness-tracker watches we've seen debut recently, but for Garmin, that is a departure from the norm. On the watch face are two small, curved bars: one that fills in black showing progress toward your daily activity goal, and one that fills up in red when you've been inactive for too long. These bars seem like a good way of making important stats glanceable without cluttering up the simplicity of an analog watch face.

It's clear that the design is the focus of the Vivomove because its features are the same as many other Garmin devices. It monitors all-day activity, inactivity, and sleep, syncing to Garmin's Connect system to keep track of progress. It's also water resistant up to 50 meters and has a one-year battery life, which is welcome for a device that you're supposed to treat as a regular watch.

(credit: ParaZero)

NEW ORLEANS—It’s now possible to prevent the heartbreak, wallet-ache, and risk of physical injuries when consumer drones suddenly plummet from the skies mid-flight. At the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's XPONENTIAL conference, a company called ParaZero is introducing SafeAir, a device that deploys a parachute to safely bring a falling drone back to earth.

To ensure that the parachute deploys in time to prevent a crash at low altitudes, SafeAir shoots out the chute with a gust of pressurized gas. SafeAir attaches to the top of a drone and uses an independently-powered chip to detect when the drone goes into freefall. According to a company spokesperson, SafeAir has worked with drone manufacturers to develop recovery systems for their drones based on how far it is safe for their drones to fall—including DJI (the makers of the popular Phantom consumer drone), professional photography drone maker 3D Robotics, and Martin Aviation—makers of the JetPack search and rescue small uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

ParaZero also manufactures pyrotechnic-deployed parachutes for larger drones, along with an airbag system for cinematic drones to protect cameras and other expensive gear during an unpowered landing.