Researchers Get Closer to Reality Of X-Ray Vision
Cambridge, Mass. — X-ray vision, a comic book fantasy for decades, is becoming a reality in a lab at MIT. A group of researchers led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Dina Katabi has developed software that uses variations in radio signals to recognize human silhouettes through walls and track their movements. Researchers say the technology will be able to help health care providers and families keep closer tabs on...
Hacking Into Your Fitbit
During a 2014 competition among Netflix employees to create potential new features, one group hacked into a Fitbit and created a “Sleep Bookmark” function, automatically pausing Netflix as the wearer started to fall asleep. Though used to create a function for the on-demand Internet streaming content company that might be appealing to late-night movie watchers, the competition showed the vulnerability of wearable fitness devices to...
We Can Hear You Now
San Francisco — Like a lot of teenagers, Aanya Nigam reflexively shares her whereabouts, activities and thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and other social networks without a qualm. But Aanya’s care-free attitude dissolved into paranoia a few months ago shortly after her mother bought Amazon’s Echo, a digital assistant that can be set up in a home or office to listen for various requests, such as for a song, a sports score, the weather,...
A Landline That Is Smarter and Easier to Use
Ilan Abehassera had a communication problem. A frequent traveler with three young children at home, it was hard for him to stay in touch with his family. He could call the home telephone, but then he could speak to only one family member at a time. He could FaceTime with his wife, but again, it was hard to speak to multiple people at once. He could even use a service like Skype or Google Hangouts, but his wife would have to be around...
House Votes to Kill Medical Device Tax
Washington — The House defied a White House veto threat and voted Thursday to abolish a tax on medical device makers as a group of Democrats uncharacteristically joined Republicans in moving to kill part of President Obama’s health care law. Thursday’s 280-140 House vote was exactly the two-thirds margin that supporters would need to override a presidential veto. The real suspense will come in the Senate, which voted overwhelmingly to...
