Thursday, November 27, 2014

Twitter is now tracking the apps you download

Twitter has announced that it has started collecting data on the apps its users download and install on their smartphones.

The benefit for advertisers to better target users is obvious: Twitter users with Jawbone UP24 installed could find more fitness-related ads, while music subscriptions services could target users of their rivals with special offers or incentives to switch.

Twitter isn't the only service to be tracking it users' apps. Facebook checks which apps users have installed that use the Facebook SDK -- again to better target advertising of Facebook games and applications. WhatsApp will also retrieve a list of applications you have running.

If this all sounds a little too much, Twitter does point out that this is entirely optional -- you can turn off this feature, and the company details exactly how to do so for both Android and iOS on its website.

Source: CNET

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Google Glass hack allows brainwave control


Google Glass has been hacked so that it can be controlled by brainwaves.

By combining the smart glasses with an electroencephalography (EEG) headset, the software makes it possible to take a picture without moving a muscle.

London-based start-up This Place said the tech could be utilised in high-pressure hands-free situations - such as during surgery.

It has released the MindRDR software for free in the hope that developers will adapt it for other uses.

Google made it clear that it does not support the app.

"Google Glass cannot read your mind," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"This particular application seems to work through a separate piece of kit which you attach to Glass.

Source : BBC