Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung has updated its Health app to enhance user experience by offering expanded health management features, making it easier to access health records, manage medications, and track food intake. These new capabilities aim to consolidate fragmented health data into a unified platform for better health monitoring.

A key feature of the update is Health Records, which allows users to securely access medical information from clinics, hospitals, and major health networks. Through a partnership with b.well Connected Health, Samsung Health integrates electronic medical records (EMR) from leading U.S. systems like Cerner and Epic. Users can track vaccinations, prescriptions, and test results, improving communication with healthcare providers.

The Medications tracking feature, first launched in the U.S., is now expanded to South Korea and India. This feature allows users to easily track medications, view potential side effects, and monitor adherence through an intuitive dashboard. In the U.S., a partnership with Elsevier enhances drug safety by offering warnings about interactions and allergies. In Korea and India, regional partnerships ensure localized support for medication safety and reminders.

The app also introduces a barcode scanning feature to simplify food tracking. In partnership with fatsecret, users can now scan food labels to automatically log nutritional information, helping them monitor daily dietary intake. Initially available in the U.S. and select European countries, this feature will expand to other regions over time. You can download Samsung Health at Google Play Store or Samsung App Store.

And if you’re interested in tracking your calories , check out MyFitnessPal, which is one of the best food intake/calorie counter app we have used (publications like Healthline and Fortune also agree).

Samsung Health Update Enhances Health Records, Medications, And Food Tracking

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The Apple Intelligence rollout has been slow, staggered and steady since the company first unveiled its take on AI at WWDC this year. It continues today with the release of the latest developer betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. The updates in iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia (15.2) bring long-awaited features like Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration for those running the preview software, as well as Image Wand for iPads and more writing tools.

This follows the announcement that iOS 18.1 would be available as a stable release to the public next week, which would bring things like writing tools, notification summaries and Apple’s hearing test to the masses. 

That represents the first time for people who haven’t opted into beta software to check out Apple Intelligence, which the company has widely touted as the headline feature for the devices it launched this year. The iPhone 16 series, for example, were billed as phones designed for Apple Intelligence, though they launched without those features.

Now that the next set of tools is ready for developers to test, it seems like we’re weeks away from them arriving to the public. For those already on the developer beta, the update will land automatically. As always, a word of caution: If you’re not already familiar, beta software is meant for users to test new features and often to check for compatibility or problems. They can be buggy, so always back up your data before installing previews. In this case, you’ll also need to have an Apple developer account to get access.

Genmoji is arriving today

Today’s updates brings Genmoji, which lets you create custom emoji from your keyboard. You’ll go to the emoji keyboard, tap the Genmoji button next to the description or search input field, then enter what you want to create. Apple Intelligence will generate a few options, which you can swipe and select one to send. You’ll be able to use them as tapback reactions to other people’s messages too. Plus, you can make Genmoji based on pictures of your friends, creating more-accurate Memoji of them. Since these are all presented in emoji style, there won’t be the risk of mistaking them for real pictures.

Apple is also releasing a Genmoji API today so third-party messaging apps can read and render Genmoji, and folks you text on WhatsApp or Telegram can see your hot new gym rat emoji.

Other previously announced features like Image Playground and Image Wand are also available today. The former is both a standalone app and something you can access from the Messages app via the Plus button. If you go through Messages, the system will quickly generate some suggestions based on your conversations. You can also type descriptions or select photos from your gallery as a reference, and the system will serve up an image which you can then tweak. To prevent confusion, only some art styles are available: Animation or Illustration. You won’t be able to render photorealistic pictures of people. 

Image Wand will also be arriving today as an update to the Apple Pencil tool palette, helping to turn your cruddy sketches into more-polished works of art.

ChatGPT integration for Siri and Writing Tools

As announced at WWDC, Apple is bringing ChatGPT to Siri and Writing Tools, and each time your request might be well-served by OpenAI’s tools, the system will suggest heading there. For example, if you ask Siri to generate an itinerary, a workout routine or even a meal plan, the assistant might say it needs to use ChatGPT to do so and ask for your permission. You can choose to have the system ask you each time it goes to GPT or surface these requests less often. 

It’s worth reiterating that you don’t need a ChatGPT account to use these tools, and Apple has its own agreement with OpenAI so that when you use the latter’s services, your data like your IP address won’t be stored or used to train models. However, if you do connect your ChatGPT account, your content will be covered by OpenAI’s policies.

Elsewhere, Apple Intelligence will also show that you can compose with ChatGPT within Writing Tools, which is where you’ll find things like Rewrite, Summarize and Proofread. It’s also another area that’s getting an update with the developer beta — a new tool called “Describe your change.” This is basically a command bar that lets you tell Apple exactly what it is you want to do to your writing. “Make it sound more enthusiastic,” for example, or “Check this for grammar errors.” Basically, it’ll make getting the AI to edit your work a bit easier, since you won’t have to go to the individual sections for Proofread or Summarize, for example. You can also get it to do things lke “Turn this into a poem.”

Visual Intelligence cometh for iPhone 16 owners

Finally, if you have an iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro and are running the developer beta, you’ll be able to try out Visual Intelligence. That lets you point your camera at things around you and get answers for things like math problems in your textbook or the menu of a restaurant you pass on your commute. It can tap third-party services like Google and ChatGPT, too.

Outside of the iPhone 16 series, you’ll need a compatible device to check out any Apple Intelligence features. That means an iPhone 15 Pro and newer or an M-series iPad or MacBook. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-intelligence-expands-in-ios-182-developer-beta-adding-genmoji-visual-intelligence-and-chatgpt-170920932.html?src=rss

Dolby Atmos has integrated into spaces like movies, home theaters, and headphones over the decade plus since it launched in 2012. Now, its entering the live theater space for the first time since thanks to Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s take on King Lear. It has been used for live events before, however, like concerts at the Dolby Live in the Park MGM Las Vegas. 

Kenneth Branagh, who stars in the production, has previously used Dolby Atmos as a director of films like Belfast. “Kenneth Branagh’s brilliant implementations of Dolby Atmos in film, like for his Oscar-winning Belfast, demonstrate the power artists have to immerse audiences in ways never before possible,” said Jed Harmsen, Head of Cinema and Group Entertainment at Dolby. He added that the “collaboration with Dolby will break ground in bringing Dolby Atmos to the world of stage performance and use intentional sound design to plunge audiences into the play’s universe.”

King Lear will run for nearly two months from October 26 to December 15 at The Shed’s Griffin Theater in New York City. Dolby Atmos will create audio effects and music around the audience and above the actors. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/dolby-atmos-is-making-its-live-theater-debut-144150814.html?src=rss

Chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) halted semiconductor shipments to a client that may have illegally sent the chips on to Huawei, according to Bloomberg. That follows reports that TSMC had informed the US government that its chips appeared in one of Huawei’s AI accelerators. There’s no confirmation on whether the company was acting on Huawei’s behalf or where it’s based. 

TSMC cut off shipments to the entity in mid-October after it noticed that the same chips had appeared in Huawei products. It notified the US and Taiwanese governments of this latest development and is further probing the matter, Bloomberg‘s sources said. They asked not to be identified given the sensitive nature of the matter. 

Yesterday, Bloomberg and The Financial Times reported that Canadian research firm TechInsights had spotted TSMC chips in a Huawei AI accelerator, a clear violation of US sanctions. That brought into question how Huawei had obtained those chips, with a third-party company being a strong possibility. 

In 2020, the US Commerce Department implemented trade restrictions against Huawei that barred the company from obtaining chips made by foreign firms. Earlier this year, the US government further tightened restrictions by revoking its licenses with Intel and Qualcomm to produce chips for its devices.

In a previous statement provided to the Commerce Department, TSMC denied any working relationship with Huawei since mid-September of 2020. TSMC also told Bloomberg that it hasn’t produced any chips for Huawei due to the amended restrictions. For its part, Huawei said in a statement yesterday that it hasn’t used any chips sourced from TSMC since the 2020 restrictions were enacted. 

Rather than using TSMC, Huawei was supposedly obtaining chips from a local partner, China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) — including a 7-nanometer processor for Huawei smartphones. However, US officials doubted that SMIC could build such chips at sufficient scale to meet market demand. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/tsmc-has-reportedly-cut-off-a-company-that-sent-its-chips-to-huawei-124900342.html?src=rss

An Intelsat communication satellite built by Boeing has exploded and broken up in geostationary orbit. Intelsat confirmed the news in a press release, declaring the satellite a “total loss.” The US Space Force said it is tracking around 20 associated pieces but “has observed no immediate threats” to other satellites so far (Roscosmos said it was tracking 80 fragments). The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but the news is another blow for Boeing following Starliner’s failed crew test flight, problems with the 737 Max and delays to the 777x. 

Intelsat said it’s working to move customers to its other satellites or third party spacecraft. “A Failure Review Board has convened to complete a comprehensive analysis of the cause,” the company wrote. The satellite was uninsured, a spokesperson told SpaceNews. 

The explosion fragments could still pose a risk to other satellites. “The problem is that there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the orbits of these fragments at the moment,” said a spokesperson for Spaceflux, a UK company that tracks objects in orbit. “They can be potentially dangerous for other satellites but we do not know that yet.” 

Intelsat 33e is one of six “EpicNG” satellites built by Boeing, and uses the latter’s 720MP satellite platform equipped with 16 hydrazine-powered engines built by Aerojet Rocketdyne. The type is widely used for telephone, internet and satellite TV/radio broadcast services. 

It entered service three months late due to an issue with its primary thruster, and another propulsion issue reduced its service life by 3.5 years. The first EpicNG satellite, Intelsat 29e, was declared a total loss in 2019 after just three years in service, reportedly due to a meteoroid impact or wiring flaw. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/intelsats-boeing-made-satellite-explodes-and-breaks-up-in-orbit-120036468.html?src=rss