Month: May 2016

Study: Fitbit Trackers are ‘Highly Inaccurate’

Dan Uff May 24, 2016 0

“A class action lawsuit against Fitbit may have grown teeth following the release of a new study that claims the company’s popular heart rate trackers are ‘highly inaccurate,'” Kalyeena Makortoff reports for CNBC.

“Researchers at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona tested the heart rates of 43 healthy adults with Fitbit’s PurePulse heart rate monitors, using the company’s Surge watches and Charge HR bands on each wrist. Subjects were then hooked up to a BioHarness device that produced an electrocardiogram (ECG), to record the heart’s rhythm against the data being produced by Fitbit’s devices,” Makortoff reports. “Comparative results from rest and exercise — including jump rope, treadmills, outdoor jogging and stair climbing — showed that the Fitbit devices miscalculated heart rates by up to 20 beats per minute on average during more intensive workouts. ‘The PurePulse Trackers do not accurately measure a user’s heart rate, particularly during moderate to high intensity exercise, and cannot be used to provide a meaningful estimate of a user’s heart rate,’ the study stated.”

“A separate study by Ball State University in Indiana and journalists at NBC-affiliated TV station WTHR released in February also showed that the Fitbit Charge HR missed heartbeats, marking an average heart rate error of 14 percent,” Makortoff reports. “‘Calculating a heart rate that’s off by 20 or 30 beats per minute can be dangerous — especially for people at high risk of heart disease,’ the report said.”

Read more in the full article here.

 How to

How to see what’s running via the Terminal

Dan Uff May 23, 2016 0

You can check what processes are running via the Terminal. Here's how:

1. Go to FINDER > APPLICATIONS > UTILITIES > TERMINAL.
2. At the Terminal prompt, type: top
3. It'll show you information on what's currently running on your Mac.

Security

Apple Quietly Toughens Rules for Touch ID

Dan Uff May 19, 2016 0

Padlock Apple has modified the way users have to unlock their devices with a passcode, despite having Touch ID enabled.

iOS will now ask for a passcode if it hasn't been unlocked that way for six days, and Touch ID hasn't been used in the last eight hours, MacWorld said. A quoted Apple spokesperson claimed the rule has been in place since iOS 9 was released in Sept. 2015, but MacWorld noted this is inconsistent with the iOS Security guide, which only mentioned the change starting May 12. Apple declined to offer an explanation.

The company has several such rules in place, the two most common forcing a passcode unlock if a device is rebooted or hasn't been unlocked for 48 hours. Others require a passcode after new fingers are added to Touch ID, a person tries five unsuccessful Touch ID logins, or someone issues a remote lock via Find My iPhone.

If the discovered rule is genuinely new, it's not clear how or when Apple might have made the change, since iOS 9.3.1 was released in March and 9.3.2 arrived earlier this week.

Regardless, the tactic is presumably a means of reinforcing the security of Apple devices. It could potentially have an impact on U.S. law enforcement, which has already begun seeking court orders compelling people to unlock iPhones with their fingerprints.

Source: MacWorld.com / AppleInsider.com