Category: Gadgets

Mobile technology news whirls under Cablevision WiFi phone service launch

| February 2, 2015

The company is going to start selling its Freewheel wireless service that is based exclusively on WiFi connectivity.

Cablevision has announced that it will be going into direct competition with mobile technology service providers in February, when it will start to sell a new service that it has called Freewheel, which is meant to be a low cost, WiFi based alternative to traditional cell phone connectivity.

The existing internet service subscribers at Cablevision will receive the first offers for Freewheel.

Those who subscribe for $9.95 per month will be able to take advantage of their mobile technology through unlimited talk, text, and data. That said, for consumers who aren’t already internet service customers at that company, the same package for their smartphones would be $29.99 per month. This will clearly be much more appealing to those customers who are already subscribers of internet service through the company.

At the time of the launch, Cablevision will be selling only one piece of mobile technology: the Moto G.

Customers purchasing the Motorola smartphone through Cablevision and its Freewheel program can expect to pay $99.95 for that mobile device. It will be preloaded with authenticating apps that function with any of the hotspots from that service provider.

In 2007, Cablevision began the expansion of its own Optimum WiFi network, and it now boasts over 1.1 million hotspots throughout the New York tri-state area. In 2014, the company implemented WiFi sharing similar to Fon, which made it possible for many of the routers of its customers to be converted into public hotspots, simply by adding a separate additional network that is accessible by any Optimum customer. That would now include Freewheel subscribers, once that program officially rolls out.

Additionally, Freewheel customers will also be able to use their mobile technology at any of 300,000 more hotspots across the United States, through the CableWiFi initiative, which interconnects WiFi access points from large providers such as Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Comcast. The service will also allow a customer to use their device with any other WiFi network to which he or she has access, including home and work.

Could wearable technology be the next anti-anxiety treatment?

| February 2, 2015

A new form of headset may be able to lower anxiety levels better than drugs, caffeine, or alcohol.

A new type of wearable technology from Thync, which comes in the form of an electronic headset, is being designed to be able to reduce the tension that people feel in their bodies so that their stress and anxiety levels can safely, rapidly, and effectively be lowered.

This headset involves the attachment of two small electrodes to the temple and back of the neck with a gentle adhesive.

The wearable technology device must currently be worn for 16 minutes and, according to Sumon Pal, the executive director of the neuroscience startup based in Los Gatos, California, the majority of people begin to feel a reduction in their body tension. This results in greater thought focus and clarity, which slows the breathing and causes the thoughts that would typically cause anxiety to rise to become less impactful.

This wearable technology gadget is currently in prototype form and is controlled by an app.

Wearable Technology to help with anxietyThe device produces a type of “vibe” that makes its way through the brain and eases the body. More specifically, it uses transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS), for the triggering of specific brain responses, in order to generate the sensation of serenity and calm, or to boost focus and energy, when needed.

The purpose of these wearables from Tync is not to change the biology of the brain, but is, instead, to offer an individual an improved control over his or her focus, energy, and calm, in a way that is not available through natural pathways. This, according to Jamie Tyler, the chief science officer of the company.

Tyler explained that “Coffee, alcohol, drugs; these are all neuro-enhancers,” adding that “You’re already modifying your brain activity.” However, Thync is hoping to use wearable technology to improve the control that individuals have in those areas so that they can more quickly and effectively manage them in a way that coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals simply cannot. Considering the size of those markets, at the moment, if these wearables could manage to produce similar – but more controllable – effects, there is considerable potential for the company and its creations.