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Download Free technews From viewzoft Theres no denying the technological impact of Apples iconic iPod and its subsequent dominance in the digital music marketplace, and, considering its prolific rise and ongoing consumer dominance, the occasional bug, fault, and glitch are perhaps tolerable in an otherwise superb piece of kit. However, one of this weeks news stories would suggest that loving your iPod and duly keeping it close to your heart might be bad for your health, especially if youe fitted with a pacemaker. More pointedly, according to a study carried out by Jay Thaker, a 17-year-old high school student, which was presented to a selection of heart specialists yesterday, close proximity to an iPod can trigger monitoring malfunctions in cardiac pacemakers due to electromagnetic interference. Thaker, lead author on the heart-related study and a student at Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan, revealed that iPod units positioned a mere 2 inches from the chests of patients fitted with a pacemaker caused electrical interference in 50 percent of them. Even when located around 18 inches from a patients chest electrical interference was registered as disrupting the pacemakers telemetry equipment, leading the implanted device to misinterpret the pace of the heart. In one test the pacemaker ceased to function completely. The study was conducted at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University across 100 patients with an average age of 77, all equipped with implanted pacemaker devices. Thaker’s somewhat worrying results (which only focused on the iPod, and not the effects of other digital portable music players), were presented on Thursday at the annual meeting off the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, Colorado. While the test results are worth noting, the studys senior author, Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin (who is also an assistant professor at the University of Michigans Division of Cardiovascular Medicine) conceded that the patient and age demographic generally associated with iPod use doesnt coincide with the related demographic of those fitted with pacemakers, and therefore actual figures connected to possible misdiagnosis are hard to amass. "Most pacemaker patients are not iPod users," said Jongnarangsin in a Reuters report. "This needs to be studied more." Young Mr. Thaker, whose mother and father happen to be a rheumatologist and electrophysiologist respectively, is now aiming to conduct a similar test that will assess the effects of iPod use in location to implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). ( Read More )
Download Free technews From viewzoft Wed probably be more inclined to gripe about iriver stringing us along like this -- five gadgets, five days, hardly any hard facts -- if there wasnt so much sexy to the devices and photographs the DAP manufacturer is tossing up every 24 hours or so. Todays gadget is the iriver W10, a slim little touchscreen number we got to play with at CES, which seems to swipe some of the iPhones interface ideas for touchscreen VoIP dialing, while still sticking with those WPS (WiFi positioning system) and PDA / e-book / PMP features we heard about before. We wish we had more to tell you, like price or a release date, but two things are certain: iriver seems bent on swiping every gadget dollar weve ever stashed, and is singlehandedly keeping the hand modelling industry in business. ( Read More )
Download Free technews From viewzoft We havent seen too many portable audio devices out of Yamaha (well, unless you count scooters), but the companys new BODiBEAT looks like it could be a big hit with runners. The arm-mounted DAP contains an accelerometer that links to the earphone-mounted pulse monitor, enabling the BODiBEAT to play tracks that match your running rhythm, switching songs as you speed up and slow down. It doesnt look the like unit actually changes the speed of your music, so Yamaha has thoughtfully included a range of preloaded beat loops that remix themselves at every tempo to cover any gaps. Good thing, too, since the puny 512MB of memory means youll be out of music by the end of the block. Expect to see the BODiBEAT popping up at the gym later this summer for an astronomical $299. ( Read More )
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