Category Archives: Technology

Hold the Phone for Vital Signs

*WPI researchers turn a smart phone into a medical monitor*

An iPhone app that measures the user’s heart rate is not only a popular feature with consumers, but it sparked an idea for a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher who is now turning smart phones, and eventually tablet devices, into sophisticated medical monitors able to capture and transmit vital physiological data.

A team led by Ki Chon, professor and head of biomedical engineering at WPI, has developed a smart phone application that can measure not only heart rate, but also heart rhythm, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation using the phone’s built-in video camera. The new app yields vital signs as accurate as standard medical monitors now in clinical use. Details of the new technology are reported in the paper “Physiological Parameter Monitoring from Optical Recordings with a Mobile Phone,” published online, in advance of print, by the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. (more…)

Read More

Turkey Has Third Most Engaged Online Audience in Europe

*Mike Read to Speak at Webrazzi on 19 October About ‘Turkey in the Global Internet and the Future of Online Measurement’*

LONDON, UK, 18 October 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe and Turkey, showing that of Europe’s 372 million unique visitors, Turkey accounts for 23.1 million unique visitors during August 2011. The United Kingdom showed the highest engagement with users spending an average of nearly 35 hours online in the past month, up 1.5 hours from the previous month. The Netherlands ranked second (32.8 hours per month), closely followed by Turkey, where the average internet user spent 32.7 hours online consuming 3,706 pages per month, the highest consumption amongst all countries reported. (more…)

Read More

Social Networking Accounts for One Third of All Time Spent Online in Malaysia

Mudah.my, Media Prima and Maybank Rank as Top Local Properties

Malaysians Spending 19 Percent More Time Watching Online Video in August versus Last Year

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 17, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest report on Internet usage in Malaysia including insights into the top online destinations, content categories and video viewing behaviors. The report found that Social Networking accounted for one third of all time spent online in Malaysia in August 2011, ranking as the top online activity for the market. The report also found that online video viewing continues to grow in Malaysia with the viewing audience climbing 8 percent in the past year, while average viewing minutes increased 19 percent, representing an additional hour of monthly viewing time. (more…)

Read More

Of Avatars and Virtual Meetings

Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, brought news of Microsoft’s plans to merge the physical world with the digital word during an Oct. 6 lecture at the University of Toronto.

“The computer is being endowed with more and more human sensing-like capability,” said Mundie.  “We think this will be the predominant way people will use computers in the future.” (more…)

Read More

IBM Joins European Consortium to Build a Smart Grid Using Renewable Energy

Armonk, NY and Copenhagen, Denmark & COPENHAGEN, Denmark – 13 Oct 2011: IBM today announced it has joined a collaborative consortium to help develop an energy grid that uses at least 50 percent of renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy and biogas. Led by a European Union-funded consortium, the EcoGrid EU project will demonstrate a smart energy grid that will allow smart devices to use renewable electricity based on near real-time pricing and availability. (more…)

Read More

Study: Delays in Video Calls May Not Always Hurt Communication

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, even though it is frustrating in many others.

Researchers found that when two strangers first talked about an emotionally charged topic over a video connection with a one-second delay, they actually reported less frustration than did those who talked with no delay. (more…)

Read More

European Engagement on Entertainment Sites Grows 10 Percent in the Past Year

*comScore Releases Overview of European Internet Usage for August 2011*

LONDON, UK, 11 October 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe, showing 372.1 million unique visitors went online in August 2011 for an average of 25.4 hours per person. This release highlights internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated under the European region and provides individual reporting on 18 markets. Among the reportable markets, the United Kingdom showed the highest engagement with users spending an average of nearly 35 hours online in the past month, up 1.5 hours from the previous month. (more…)

Read More