Névo watch combines stylish looks with fitness functionality

 

The Névo watch is a fashion-first fitness tracker with stylish looks and vibration alerts

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While recent wearable releases like the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R have successfully blurred the line between smartwatch and fashion accessory, they’re still more tech product than jewelery piece. At first glance, the Névo looks like a straightforward analogue watch, but it’s actually packing some reasonable fitness tracking tech under the hood.

The French designed product is a collaboration between iMaze and EMIE, and features a Swiss movement, stylish looks and a 3 ATM water and shock resistant stainless steel construction. It’s capable of tracking the wearer’s steps, distance traveled, sleep quality and duration, and calories burned – considering its looks-first mentality, that’s not bad going. However, unlike some smartwatches such as the Moto 360, there’s no heart rate monitor included here.

The Névo adopts a similar idea to the Withings Activité announced earlier this year, which uses a small secondary dial to display the user’s progress towards fitness goals. Unlike that product, the Névo uses a ring of eleven embedded bright white LEDs around the watch face to display the information, rather than a physical dial.

The watch connects to iOS and Android smartphones via a Bluetooth Low Energy connection, and uses a standard watch battery. According to the company, users can expect a full six months of battery life before having to swap in a new battery.

While the product’s limited technology places it firmly in the fitness tracker category, it does pack one feature we’ve become used to with smartwatches. The wearable won’t display notifications like full blown smartwatches would, but it will vibrate when one is received. So you’ll still have to take your phone out of your pocket to view the alert, but you’ll be less likely to miss messages because of your handset’s weedy vibration motor.

The Névo activity tracking app is set to be compatible with both Apple HealthKit and Google Fit, and the watch will ship with both leather and silicone bands. If you’re interested in the fashion-first wearable, then you’ll have to wait a little while to get your hands on it, with the product set to land in early 2015 for US$200. It will be available for pre-order in mid-December.

Source: Névo

 

Ford ruggedizes its Troller 4x4 for the Sao Paulo Motor Show

 

Troller T4 off-road edition

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Following up on the 2012 Troller TR-X concept, Ford has designed a pair of custom Troller T4 off-road special editions. The specialized versions of its Jeep-like, Brazil-market 4x4 are built to go deeper and include a variety of upgrades, such as snorkels and winches. They are appearing alongside other production and special edition T4 models at this week's São Paulo Motor Show.

Back in June, we looked at the all-new Troller T4, a utility vehicle with strong resemblance to off-road legends like Willys jeeps and Toyota Land/FJ Cruisers. While an intriguing, little 4x4, the production T4 does lack some of the rough-and-ready off-road style of the TR-X concept that previewed it.

The new T4 off-road special edition brings that style back. The show car gets a two-toned, bronzed-over look that's as earthy as its tires. It also brings back the passenger-side snorkel seen on the TR-X, gets a set of BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires and packs a Warn winch up front. Its suspension has been upgraded for trail use, as have the bumpers.

Ford's press materials don't mention any engine tuning, so the T4 special edition must rely on the same 200-hp 3.2-liter turbo diesel engine as the production model. That engine offers up to 347 lb-ft (470 Nm) of torque.

Next to the T4 special edition, Ford is also showing the T4-based Off-Road Rescue concept. That version appears even more closely related to the TR-X concept, perhaps even that very same concept dressed in orange. Designed with emergency rescue in mind, the model includes blue exterior accents, LED lighting, 17-in wheels with Mud Terrain tires, and a rescue canoe working like the cherry on top.

Take a closer look at these two T4 special editions, along with the other T4s of São Paulo, in the photo gallery. Since a utility vehicle just doesn't have the same appeal when sparkling and pristine, we've also mixed in a few photos of Copa rally Trollers disrupting sand, dirt and water.

Source: Troller/Ford

 

iPad mini 3

 

The newest iPad mini is the smallest iPad update yet – to the degree that isn't really a new device. But is it still worth a look? Join Gizmag, as we review Apple's "new" iPad mini 3.

Want the Cliff's Notes version of our iPad mini 3 review? Okay: it's an iPad mini 2 (formerly "iPad mini with Retina Display"), only with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Oh, and there's now a gold color option. The end.

That isn't an exaggeration either. Same screen, processor, RAM, battery and cameras – all in the same body. Apart from Touch ID and gold, the iPad mini 3 is quite literally an iPad mini 2.

It's too bad – because, for many of us, the iPad mini is the perfect size. Last year the Air and Mini were nearly identical ... one awesome tablet, two sizes to choose from. But this year the Air is sitting in the driver's seat, with the Mini passed out in the back.

I'm not sure why Apple blew off the iPad mini this year, but it could have to do with phablets. With big-screened phones (including one from Apple) eating into tablet sales, maybe the company sees the larger iPad Air as the one more likely to survive the threat?

... or it could be the real iPad mini 3 simply wasn't ready for 2014. Apple still needed something to sell as "new" for the holidays, so an iPad mini 2 with Touch ID is what we got.

Whatever the reason, this is a surprising change. Last year it looked like Air and Mini were going to be equals from then on. But this year there's no question which iPad is better.

Disappointment aside, the iPad mini 3 is still a great little tablet. It still has the Mini's winning combination of portability and screen size, along with the same sharp Retina Display (though its color range still isn't the best). It runs iOS 8, performs well and has long battery life. Most importantly, it has the App Store's leading tablet app selection.

Take all of that, add Touch ID and you still have one of the best mini-tablets you can buy – maybe even the best.

So why not run out and buy the iPad mini 3? Well, the problem is Apple (and tech companies in general) have trained us to expect significant upgrades every year. We want to hand over the same wad of money and get back something better than we got last year. The iPad mini 3 only barely does that.

As it stands now, Apple is saying Touch ID is worth US$100. That's because the otherwise identical iPad mini 2 is hanging around for another year at $300, while the iPad mini 3 starts at $400.

Touch ID is the best fingerprint sensor around. It's an easy way to secure your tablet, and iOS 8 even lets you use it with third-party apps. The marriage of Touch ID and password manager apps, like 1Password and LastPass, is about as good as it gets.

But $100 for Touch ID – and nothing else – just seems too steep. For most people, I wouldn't recommend paying $400 (or more) for the iPad mini 3.

... but there's a bright side here. The iPad mini 3 isn't a great deal, but the iPad mini 2 is. $300 for a high-end tablet with the same sharp screen, long battery life and app selection? That's more like it.

Just 13 months ago, $330 got you an iPad mini 1 with an ancient processor and dated (even at the time) display. Now, for $30 less than that, you get a tablet that's not just better – it's much better.

The iPad mini 2 might be the best iPad value yet.

The iPad mini 3 is Apple's second-best tablet, but unless you see Touch ID as a $100 feature (or really, really like gold), we recommend passing on it. Your money will go farther on either the cheaper iPad mini 2 or the bigger and better iPad Air 2.

The iPad mini 3 is available now, starting at $400 for a 16 GB Wi-Fi only model.

Product page: Apple

 

U-Boat Worx gets sporty with compact HP Sport Sub 2

 

The HP Sport Sub 2 with standard fit out is good for 3 knots on the surface, or 2 knots under the waves

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Dutch firm U-Boat Worx describes the latest addition to its line of submersibles as a "subsea-Ferrari". Like many Ferraris, the company's new HP Sport Sub 2 seats two and comes in eye-catching red, but unlike most Ferraris, it can carry a pilot and passenger to a depth of 100 m (330 ft) beneath the waves for periods of up to six hours.

Designed to fit into the tender garage of superyachts 30 m (98 ft) and greater, or towed easily behind the Bentley, the HP Sport Sub 2 displaces the Super Yacht Sub 3 as the most compact U-Boat Worx model. Featuring a new acrylic-steel pressure hull design, the craft measures 285 cm (9.3 ft) long and 235 cm (7.7 ft) wide, giving it the same length and width dimensions as the Super Yacht Sub 3. However, it isn't as high, measuring 136 cm (4.5 ft) to the Super Yacht Sub 3's 174 cm (5.7 ft) and providing a more streamlined shape.

Despite the reduced height, U-Boat Worx has positioned the access hatch high above the waterline to overcome the difficulties faced by conventional sports submersible when embarking and disembarking in the water. The company says the elevated freeboard and stability of the vehicle means there is no need for "man-rated" cranes to get people in and out. And with a weight of 2,200-kg (4,850-lb), the craft is light enough to allow existing cranes to be used for launch and recovery.

With 2 x 2.7 kW brushless electric thrusters providing horizontal propulsion and 4 x 2.7 kW thrusters providing vectored vertical propulsion, the personal sports submersible can reach speeds of 3 knots (3.5 mph, 5.6 km/h) on the surface and 2 knots (2.3 mph, 3.7 km/h) when submerged. However, upgrading the horizontal thrusters to 2 x 5.5 kW units will increase speeds to 5 knots (5.7 mph, 9.3 km/h) on the surface and 3 knots below the waves.

Total power capacity for the sub is 21.6 kWh, provided by lithium-ion batteries that take around four hours to recharge. An emergency battery is also on board that will provide power to critical systems for up to 96 hours. Control is via the dual-joystick, gamepad-style Manta fly-by-wire controller found in previous U-Boat Worx models, which can be passed to the passenger if they want to take control for a bit.

"The design is attractive, but above all, safe and functional,” says U-Boat Worx founder and Chairman, Bert Houtman. “We’ve adopted a very different look compared to traditional submersibles, but without compromising safety and ease of use - the ability to easily board the craft at the surface, for example."

As you might expect, the HP Sport Sub 2 isn’t cheap, setting your offshore account back US$1.35 million. That price includes a battery charger, training course and a DNV-GL certification. Production models are scheduled for delivery to select superyacht owners for the third quarter of 2015.

Source: U-Boat Worx

 

She’s fantastic, Elle est magnifique….

 

A artista australiana CJ Hendry desenha com técnica impressionante e muita paciência ilustrações de objetos tão reais que parecem saltar aos olhos.

De forma que parecem fotografias em p&b granuladas, os desenhos criados por Hendry são feitos meticulosamente com pontilhados de canetas nanquim.

Destacando a textura e o sombreado dos objetos representados, Hendry tende a desenhar produtos de luxo como o perfume Chanel nº5 ou acessórios de marca, com exceção de ilustrações de série de ossos.

 

Apart from her awesome drawings she’s very beautiful too.

J Sidenei ( um apaixonado por belas mulheres…sou, mas quem não é?)

Heading a soccer ball may affect cognitive performance

 

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Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks.

Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks, according to a paper published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Sereno and colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The researchers tested the effects of non-injurious head-to-ball impacts on cognitive function using a tablet-based app. They found that high school female soccer players were significantly slower than non-players on a task that required pointing away from a target on the screen, but showed no difference in performance when pointing to the on-screen visual target.

According to the study, tasks that involve pointing away from a target require specific voluntary responses, whereas moving toward a target is a more reflexive response. Based on their observations, the authors conclude that sub-concussive blows to the head may cause changes specifically linked to certain cognitive functions.

The authors say that the app used in their research may be a quick and effective way to screen for and track cognitive changes in athletes. They add that a tablet-based application for such quick screens may also have broader applications in the clinic or the field.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Public Library of Science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marsha R. Zhang, Stuart D. Red, Angela H. Lin, Saumil S. Patel, Anne B. Sereno. Evidence of Cognitive Dysfunction after Soccer Playing with Ball Heading Using a Novel Tablet-Based Approach. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057364

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Could action video games help people with dyslexia learn to read?

 

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In addition to their trouble with reading, people with dyslexia also have greater difficulty than typical readers do when it comes to managing competing sensory cues, according to a study reported February 13 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that action video games might improve literacy skills in those with dyslexia, which represent five to ten percent of the population.

"Imagine you are having a conversation with someone when suddenly you hear your name uttered behind you," says Vanessa Harrar of the University of Oxford. "Your attention shifts from the person you are talking to -- the visual -- to the sound behind you. This is an example of a cross-sensory shift of attention. We found that shifting attention from visual to auditory stimuli is particularly difficult for people who have dyslexia compared to good readers."

In fact, researchers already knew that people with dyslexia had some challenges with auditory processing in addition to their visual impairments. New evidence had also begun to link multisensory integration and dyslexia to the same parts of the brain. That evidence, together with Harrar's own personal challenges with reading and writing, prompted her and her colleagues to conduct one of the first investigations of how people with dyslexia process multisensory stimuli.

Participants in the study were asked to push a button as quickly as possible when they heard a sound, saw a dim flash, or experienced both together. The speed with which they pressed the buttons was recorded and analyzed. While everyone was fastest when the same type of stimuli repeated itself, the data showed that people with dyslexia were particularly slow at pressing the button when a sound-only trial followed a visual-only trial. In other words, they showed "sluggish attention shifting," particularly when asked to shift their attention from a flash of light to a sound.

While the researchers say further study is needed, they suggest based on the findings that dyslexia training programs should take this asymmetry into account.

"We think that people with dyslexia might learn associations between letters and their sounds faster if they first hear the sound and then see the corresponding letter or word," Harrar says. Of course, traditional approaches to reading, in which letters are first seen and then heard, do just the opposite.

Harrar's team goes on to propose a unique, nonverbal approach to improve reading and writing with action video games. "We propose that training people with dyslexia to shift attention quickly from visual to auditory stimuli and back -- such as with a video game, where attention is constantly shifting focus -- might also improve literacy. Action video games have been shown to improve multitasking skills and might also be beneficial in improving the speed with which people with dyslexia shift attention from one task, or sense, to another."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Vanessa Harrar, Jonathan Tammam, Alexis Pérez-Bellido, Anna Pitt, John Stein, Charles Spence. Multisensory Integration and Attention in Developmental Dyslexia. Current Biology, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.01.029

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People with MS-related memory and attention problems have signs of extensive brain damage

 

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People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have cognitive problems, or problems with memory, attention, and concentration, have more damage to areas of the brain involved in cognitive processes than people with MS who do not have cognitive problems, according to a study published in the March 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study used a type of MRI brain scan called diffusion tensor imaging along with regular MRI scans to compare brain measurements in 20 people with MS who had related cognitive problems, 35 people with MS who did not have cognitive problems and 30 healthy participants.

The diffusion tensor images showed that, compared to the healthy control participants, 49 percent of the investigated brain white matter had impaired integrity in those with MS and no cognitive problems, while impaired integrity was evident in 76 percent of the investigated white matter of those with MS and related cognitive problems. In the people with MS-related cognitive problems, the extra white matter dysfunction was particularly seen in areas important for cognitive skills, such as the thalamus.

"This state-of-the-art imaging technology confirms that cognitive symptoms in MS have a biological basis," said study author Hanneke E. Hulst, MSc, of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. "The consequence of this discovery is that imaging can now be used to capture a wider spectrum of changes in the brains of people with MS, and will therefore help determine more accurately whether new treatments are helping with all aspects of the disease."

Cognitive problems are common in MS, affecting up to 65 percent of people with the disease.

The study was supported by the Dutch MS Research Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Cognition

 

The term cognition is used in several loosely related ways to refer to a faculty for the human-like processing of information, applying knowledge and changing preferences.

Cognition or cognitive processes can be natural and artificial, conscious and not conscious; therefore, they are analyzed from different perspectives and in different contexts, in anesthesia, neurology, psychology, philosophy, systemics and computer science.

The concept of cognition is closely related to such abstract concepts as mind, reasoning, perception, intelligence, learning, and many others that describe numerous capabilities of human mind and expected properties of artificial or synthetic intelligence.

Cognition is an abstract property of advanced living organisms; therefore, it is studied as a direct property of a brain or of an abstract mind on subsymbolic and symbolic levels.

In psychology and in artificial intelligence, it is used to refer to the mental functions, mental processes and states of intelligent entities (humans, human organizations, highly autonomous robots), with a particular focus toward the study of such mental processes as comprehension, inferencing, decision-making, planning and learning (see also cognitive science and cognitivism).

Recently, advanced cognitive researchers have been especially focused on the capacities of abstraction, generalization, concretization/specialization and meta-reasoning which descriptions involve such concepts as beliefs, knowledge, desires, preferences and intentions of intelligent individuals/objects/agents/systems.

The term "cognition" is also used in a wider sense to mean the act of knowing or knowledge, and may be interpreted in a social or cultural sense to describe the emergent development of knowledge and concepts within a group that culminate in both thought and action.

Neuropsychology

 

Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes.

It is scientific in its approach and shares an information processing view of the mind with cognitive psychology and cognitive science.

It is one of the more eclectic of the psychological disciplines, overlapping at times with areas such as neuroscience, philosophy (particularly philosophy of mind), neurology, psychiatry and computer science (particularly by making use of artificial neural networks).