Blood Pressure Monitor-Smart Baby Monitor-Baby Monitors

Keep an eye on those you love with the Withings Smart Baby Monitor

In early March, TUAW's intrepid Dave Caolo reported on the U.S. release of the Withings Smart Baby Monitor, a US$299 device that works with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to let you keep an eye on your baby, aging parents or grandparents, or even your pets. As you'll see later in this review, it does more than your average cheap Wi-Fi baby monitor, even providing a level of two-way interaction.

Design

I am a huge fan of Withings products, all of which are incredibly well-designed and very functional. I've used a Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale for almost two years and keep my health in check with their iOS-connected blood pressure monitor, and both devices work flawlessly month after month. As I'd expect, the Smart Baby Monitor is another Withings product that balances great design and functionality with easy integration to your favorite iOS device. The monitor is a small 3.6" x 3.6" x 2.5" (92mm x 92 mm x 63 mm), .65 lb. (293 gms) white box that flips open like a jewel box to reveal the camera and many controls. It's actually quite attractive, looking more like something that Jony Ive would design for Apple than your run-of-the-mill webcam. The monitor has a 3 megapixel HD camera at 2048 x 1536 pixels -- that's identical to the resolution of the new iPad. The Smart Baby Monitor also has a large speaker through which your voice or lullabies can be transmitted to baby, a multicolor nightlight, audio sensors, humidity and temperature sensors, and tactile command buttons. There's also a support stand for attaching the monitor to a crib, although it can be set on almost any flat surface and has a surprisingly wide-angle lens. Gallery: Withings Smart Baby Monitor For nighttime use, the monitor has infrared LEDs that "light up" the area up to about 15 feet (5 meters) away. Those LEDs automatically power up or down based on the amount of ambient light in the room. There's even a carry bag included if you wish to take the Smart Baby Monitor with you on a trip. To connect to the Internet, you'll need to have either a Wi-Fi network (up to 802.11n) or Ethernet connection. The monitor also requires a nearby power plug, although it can run off of an internal Lithium-ion battery for use when you're not near a plug. A handy red LED flashes near the power socket on the monitor to tell you when you need to recharge the battery.

Setup and Functionality

As with the other Withings products I've used, the Smart Baby Monitor is a piece of cake to get set up and running. Once the device is plugged in and powered up, you make a Bluetooth connection to the monitor through the iOS settings app on your favorite device. As soon as a connection is established (no pairing code required), you're asked if you wish to install an app from the app store -- that's the WithBaby app (free). With three taps and your iTunes password, the app is installed, and you can launch it. You're asked if you wish to accept push notifications. With this capability, you can receive alerts from the monitor on sound, movement, temperature or humidity. You'll need to set up a free account, which requires only an email address and a password. You can have up to three different accounts connect to the monitor simultaneously. One nice feature is that by default, the iOS app is set up to monitor sound even when the WithBaby app isn't running. There's a place to set up a baby profile. When I added one, there was a Next button at the bottom of the profile page that didn't seem to work -- I had to kill the app, then start it up again and go through the process a second time in order to get it to finish. Once that was complete, I had access to a high-resolution image of the room the camera was pointed to. Double-tapping or reverse-pinching the screen allowed me to zoom in on details. In bright lighting conditions, the image is in color; when the infrared illumination is turned on the image is grayscale. Unlike many web cameras with the ability to read more..

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Study: Geolocation Apps-Masters Golf Tournament-Tournament Organizers-Security Management

Study: Geolocation apps draw users, despite privacy concerns

A survey by a nonprofit group that focuses on risk and security management found that nearly 60 percent of smartphone users employ apps that access their location data despite having concerns about risks to their privacy and even personal safety. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/Hirbju

iPhone gains even more regional carriers for April 20 launch

Wednesday appears to be a banner day for regional carriers and the iPhone: This morning, Macworld noted that both Virginia-based nTelos and Alaskan Communications would carry the iPhone 4S starting on April 20. They aren't the only recipients of Apple's phone -- you can add another Alaskan carrier, one from Kentucky, and one from Wisconsin to the mix. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/HircEh

Masters golf tournament gets into the swing of things on iOS

The Masters is one of the most tradition-bound sporting events in the U.S. So it's fascinating to see how tournament organizers have embraced mobile with the latest iPhone and iPad apps that let you follow the four-day golf tournament. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/HirfQg

Musician Wade Hayes-Hectic Lifestyle-Colon Cancer

Oklahoma country musician Wade Hayes copes with cancer

Country musician Wade Hayes ignored his symptoms because he felt he was healthy, young and fit. But the fatigue, bleeding and pain were not, as he had assumed, caused by a hectic lifestyle and strenuous weight lifting. They were indications of what he was diagnosed with in the fall: stage IV colon cancer. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/HipeUc

Consumer Reports-Respondents-Ipad

New iPad Garners 98% Satisfaction Rating, Tops 'Consumer Reports' Rankings

ChangeWave Research today released the results of a survey addressing users' experiences with the new iPad, finding that 98% of the professional and early-adopter consumer audience targeted by the firm rate themselves as either "very satisfied" (82%) or "somewhat satisfied" (16%) with the device. The number compares favorably to the already-strong 95% satisfaction rating (74% very/23% somewhat) for the iPad 2 in the weeks leading up to the new iPad's introduction.
Among the key features of the new iPad is obviously the Retina display, with 75% of respondents citing it as one of their favorite features. Other top features such as long battery life, LTE capability, and device speed registered in the 20-22% range. On the negative side, price was the biggest issue, with 26% of respondents noting device cost and 23% of respondents citing wireless data costs as their key dislikes. Other mentioned drawbacks such as size/weight and storage capacity all registered with under 10% of the surveyed customers.
Interestingly, ChangeWave also surveyed customers about any issues with heat on the new iPad, and was able to compare those results with ones obtained back in June 2010 regarding much-publicized antenna issues on the iPhone 4. The new survey found that 89% of users experienced no problems with heat on the new iPad, with none of the respondents who even experienced the problem citing it as a major one. This contrasts with the iPhone 4 antenna issue, where 35% of respondents reported at least some issues with antenna performance and 7% calling the issue a "very big" one.
ChangeWave's survey was conducted March 22-28 and included 200 owners of the new iPad. The sample size is a relatively small one, but the results should show at least a general perspective on how customers are viewing the device.
Meanwhile, influential ratings and reviews magazine Consumer Reports has released its new tablet ratings, giving the new iPad a "recommended" label and placing it atop the rankings among 9-12 inch models. The recommendation comes after the magazine noted some issues with heat on the new device, but ultimately feels that it "didn't find the temperatures to be cause for concern".
Notably, the Retina display on the new iPad has resulted in Consumer Reports recalibrating its expectations for tablet displays, with the new iPad garnering the only "excellent" rating among tablet displays, while other displays have in many cases been shifted downward to make room at the top.As a result of the standout performance of the new iPad's screen, we have recalibrated our standard of excellence for tablet screens. The iPad alone now receives an excellent overall score for display quality. A number of current models, including the iPad 2 (which remains on sale and is a fine performer), that received excellent scores under the past standard will now be adjusted to receive very good scores overall. Likewise, some models that received good scores may also be adjusted downward, and some overall scores have changed slightly.Perhaps the only "negative" of the new iPad cited by Consumer Reports is the observation that the Retina display can "magnify imperfections" in low-resolution web content, with the magazine suggesting that in some cases such content appears worse on the new iPad than on the lower-resolution iPad 2. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/HbeA0B

Design Simplicity-Angel Investing-S Paul English-Job Postings

(Founder Stories) Kayak.com’s Paul English: On Hiring Athletes, Design Simplicity "Angel Investing [TCTV]

In part II of his Founder Stories interview with host Chris Dixon, Kayak.com’s co-founder Paul English discusses why job applicants will be hard pressed to find job postings on Kayak.com, relays the lessons he learned from Kayak’s mobile app and tells Dixon the traits founding teams need to possess in order to impress him as an angel investor. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/Hcaa3t

Initial Concerns-Food For Thought-Healthday News-Bird Flu Virus

U.S. Advisers Say It's Now Safe to Publish Bird Flu Studies

SATURDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Research on a mutated, more contagious form of the bird flu virus can be published in full, U.S. government biosecurity advisers said Friday, despite initial concerns that bioterrorists could use the information to start a pandemic. read more..

source:http://yhoo.it/HbR3uk

Study Weighs In on Diets for Kids

FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- If you're trying to get your child to drop a few pounds, here's some food for thought: A new study finds that among three types of diets, kids preferred the one emphasizing foods that don't cause blood-sugar imbalances. read more..

source:http://yhoo.it/HbR4i2

Medications-Asthma

Co-pays may affect which kids get their meds

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids with asthma end up in the hospital slightly more often when co-pays for their medications are higher, suggests a new report. In the study of close to 9,000 kids, families with higher out-of-pocket costs also filled fewer prescriptions for asthma control medications for school-aged children -- a difference that worked out to five fewer days with drugs per year. The findings suggest that the cost-saving strategy of shifting more drug expenses on to patients might have some downsides when it comes to young patients' health. ... read more..

source:http://yhoo.it/GWccts