App for Ringing Ears; MusicGlove; Ethical Robots; Trust in Facebook?

Posted March 19th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
2 comments

Today’s Tech Sightings:

 

Musical Glove Helps Stroke Patients Use Their Hands Again

Part of the problem of rehabilitating stroke victims is that many of them don’t keep up their physical therapy. In an effort to change the situation, Nizan Friedman, founder of Flint Rehabilitation Devices, has come up with a wearable device called MusicGlove that helps patients improve their motor skills.

New Audio App Claims to Treat Tinnitus

German startup Sonormed has a new app that it claims can treat Tinnitus, a condition that originates in the brain and causes ringing in the ears. The app, which is based on the premise that the brain is able to adapt and learn new things, filters the frequency that causes the user’s Tinnitus and plays back an altered audio track that the brain can adapt to over time.

Clearpath Robotics Raises $11.1 Million to Build Ethical Industrial Robots

Ontario-based industrial robot maker Clearpath Robotics is looking to expand, although it is sticking to a recent pledge that it will not take part in building killer robots.

Would You Trust Facebook With Your Bank Account?

Don’t answer that question just yet. The race for supremacy in the expanding electronic payments arena is on; and Facebook is in a good place to vie for its consumers’ wallets. But analysts say that unlike Apple and Amazon, Facebook still has to prove that its users are willing to trust it with their sensitive data.

Yahoo Shuts Down China Operations, Lays off Hundreds

Yahoo’s research and development center in Beijing, China, is shutting down. The company announced that the move is expected to eliminate about 300 jobs. A Yahoo statement said the company is always looking to realign resources and improve collaboration and innovation. The center is Yahoo’s only physical presence in mainland China.

Microsoft Backs Further Away From Selling Software

Microsoft’s announcement yesterday that its Windows 10 upgrade will be available for free to current Windows users in China signals a long-term shift in the way the company and the software industry do business and suggests that the days of charging customers for operating systems may be coming to an end.

Apple is Researching Ways to Make Virtual Mac Keyboard With Keys That Feel Real

Apple is trying to come up with a virtual keyboard that actually feels like its physical counterpart when used. Possible technologies that might be used in this push include Force Touch press and the company’s Taptic Engine, which provides haptic feedback when the keyboard is tapped.

Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

2 responses to “App for Ringing Ears; MusicGlove; Ethical Robots; Trust in Facebook?”

  1. Burkhard Schreiber, Randburg South Africa says:

    On the VOA radio pgm this morning an app was mentioned for using a cell phone camera for solving mathematical problems with reference to VOA’s Science in the news website. As I did not find it there what is the app, please.

    Thank you
    Burke Schreiber

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