Tag Archives: mobile phone

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…)

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comScore Reports August 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

*comScore Releases Report “iPhone 5: Implications for the Operator Industry”*

RESTON, VA, October 5, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending August 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 43.7 percent market share.

In light of Apple’s new iPhone announcement, comScore has also released a report highlighting the implications of this new device to the mobile operator marketplace. A complimentary copy of the report can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/iPhone_5_Implications_for_the_Operator_Industry (more…)

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Microsoft Facility Helps You Make Yourself at Home in the Future

*The first Microsoft Home was built in 1994 to show people how technology could transform everyday experiences, and now years later, the reinvented full-scale model home continues imagine a future in which interacting with computers is as comfortable as coming home.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Aug. 8, 2011 – If there’s no place like home, there’s definitely no place like the Microsoft Home.

There’s a doorbell, but a palm-scan or mobile phone will also open the front door. Sensors let you know your plants need watering. You can check the inventory of your fridge and pantry via your phone while you’re out shopping. Grace, the home’s computer, will even help you check on your grandmother, remember to take your medicine, study up for a big anatomy test, or make focaccia without the need for a recipe book.

“Grace, what’s up?” asks Microsoft Home tour guide Jonathan Cluts once inside the front door. A pleasant-voiced computer responds with updates about appointments, messages, and even information about the weather, traffic and the electric scooter that is charging outside the front door. (more…)

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comScore Reports April 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

*Apple Assumes #2 Spot among Smartphone Platforms*

RESTON, VA, June 3, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending April 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.5 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 36.4 percent market share. (more…)

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Public Nuisance? Cell Phone Use Might Actually Spark Conversations with Strangers

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Talking or texting on a cell phone in public might seem off-putting to people nearby, but a new study suggests that using mobile devices may actually help spark conversations with strangers.

The University of Michigan study examined how mobile communication influences the extent to which people engage with others in public. The new findings indicate that overall frequency of cell phone use in public does not cause them to shun nearby strangers. In fact, the result may be the opposite. (more…)

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comScore Reports November 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

*Google Android Reaches #2 Spot among Smartphone Platforms* 

RESTON, VA, January 6, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending November 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The November report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.5 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 33.5 percent market share.  (more…)

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Windows Phone 7 Takes Aim at Bad Phone Design

*Windows Phone 7 goes on sale today at AT&T and T-Mobile stores throughout the United States. The phone takes a new approach to smartphone design, hopefully addressing some of the “Bad Mobile Phone Behavior” called out in a new survey released today.* 

REDMOND, Wash. – Nov. 8, 2010 – The mobile phone, like the craftiest of invasive species, knows no boundaries. It has crept into every inch of our lives, and spotting one in the bathroom or the bedroom can only elicit a weary response: “Really?” 

According to a new survey released today, the answer across the country is a resounding – if resigned – “Yes.”  (more…)

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