Author: Stephanie Beck

Levi’s smart jacket with Google gets an upgrade

Stephanie Beck
Levi's smart jacket - Levi’s Trucker Jacket with Jacquard YouTube

A new Levi’s denim jacket is equipped with tech from Google’s Jacquard platform. The new denim Levi’s smart jacket – the Levi’s Trucker Jacket with Jacquard – can answer phone calls and control your music. Jacquard, which is part of Google’s experimental ATAP group, has developed small electronic tabs that slip into the cuff of the jacket and pairs with your phone. The Jacquard Tag is smaller than a stick of gum. The electronic tab, which is called the Jacquard Tag, is smaller than a stick of gum and it…

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Square payment technical glitch leads to business owner losing thousands of dollars

Stephanie Beck
Square Payments - Coffee Shop

Owner of a Toronto-based mobile coffee shop says she lost $14k in payments made through Square. Monica Mustelier, a Toronto business co-owner of Little Havana mobile coffee shop lost CA$14,000 (US$10.5k) to a Square payment technical glitch and it seems that Mustelier may not be the only one. Square won’t say if the issue is widespread. According to CBC News, a glitch in the popular Square payment technology is causing financial frustration for some of the mobile payment company’s users. When asked if it is a widespread issue or if…

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University of Chicago professor is working on creating an innovative wearable EMS device

Stephanie Beck
Wearable EMS device technology - creative development

Dr. Pedro Lopes wants to close the gap between human and machine. Dr. Lopes, a University of Chicago professor who heads the university’s Human Computer Integration lab, is working on creating a wearable EMS device. Unlike today’s traditional wearables, which essentially function like mini smartphones, the next generation of wearable devices Dr. Lopes and his team are working on are being designed to manipulate your muscles with electrical impulses. The wearable device would give a person the ability to perform a task they do not know how to do. Dr.…

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Smartphone games could help give early indication of cognitive decline

Stephanie Beck
Smartphone games - cognitive health research - man with mobile phone

Popular mobile games could help in the detection of serious conditions like dementia. More than just a fun pastime, researchers are finding that smartphone games like Tetris, Candy Crush Saga and Fruit Ninja could provide doctors with the advantage of spotting early signs of cognitive decline in their patients, including signs indicating the onset of serious brain disorders like dementia. An individual’s motions while playing certain mobile games correlates with their brain function. The new research, which was led by the University of Kent, investigated the link between patterns of tap,…

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