New 'smart' walking stick has sat-nav to guide people home

A 'smart' walking stick designed in Japan has built in GPS navigation to help guide old people home.

The stick has an easy-to-read LED screen which shows arrows in the direction the user needs to walk.

It also features a heart rate monitor - in a thumb reader on top - and transmits heart rate data to health workers and relatives remotely.

A working version of the stick was shown off by maker Fujitsu at this week's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

No price was confirmed, but the device could be a hit in Fujitsu's native Japan, which has a large population of older people.

Rik Henderson of gadget site Pocket-Lint said, "Fujitsu dedicated part of its Mobile World Congress 2013 stand in Barcelona to future technologies. Clearly, it is still some way off release, but we were assured that it would be a full consumer product eventually. It will also be able to read temperature and humidity."
"Naturally, it's far too early in the development life to mull over price, but if the company manages to keep it reasonably affordable, we could see the GPS walking stick becoming a very useful form of technology in years to come."

The stick works by 'learning' a set route determined by a computer, and directs its owner home accordingly.

It can also transmit the location of its owner to relatives and health workers.

10 things you didn't know your smartphone could do

From tracking your heart rate to starting your car and recording voice messages, your handset can do far more than you realise.

From creating a wi-fi hotspot anywhere to paying for things without a credit card, the average smartphone has a few unexpected tricks up its sleeve.

We’ve selected 10 things you may not know your your smartphone can do - some require an app download, but all are free.

WiFi Hotspot

If your phone runs Android Gingerbread, Windows Phone, BBOS or iOS, you can use it as WiFi hotspot to get online using devices (such as a tablet or laptop) that don’t have a cellular data connection. This is called tethering.

Turn on the hotspot function on your phone, search for it using the second device, enter the password and start browsing.

Tethering uses data, so to avoid hefty charges make sure you’ve got an unlimited data allowance. Some networks don’t allow it either, so check first.

Google search the real world

Google Goggles (free, Android) lets you identify products, places and logos using the camera on your Android phone. Use the app to take a picture and it then analysis writing or imagery and matches it with a database.

Google Goggles can be employed in a myriad of ways - use it on holiday to discover more about landmarks, scan business cards to your contacts, scan barcodes, translate foreign languages and even solve Sudoku.

Google Goggles needs an active data connection, so if you use it abroad stick to WiFi to avoid charges.

Car keys

Ever have that fleeting moment when you wonder ‘did I lock my car?’   Mercedes-Benz mbrace (iOS) and My BMW Remote (iOS) are free apps that let car owners lock their vehicles remotely by sending a signal to the car.

Before you download the apps check the running requirements - BMW requires BMW Assist and a bluetooth-enabled navigation system.

Mobile wallet

Use your smartphone to pay for goods without opening your wallet. 

Many smartphones include NFC chips, which work with services like Orange QuickTap to pay for small-value items using a special reader found in shops such as M&S and Subway.

Even if your phone doesn’t have an NFC chip, the Starbucks app (free iOS and Android) lets you buy coffee using your phone. Simply load money on and pay by scanning the on-screen barcode - useful for those days when you don’t have any change, but need a caffeine fix.
 
Heart Rate monitor

We certainly don’t advise self diagnosis, but Instant Heart Rate (free Android, iOS, Windows Phone) is a quick way of measuring your pulse. Hold your finger over the lens for about 10 seconds and the camera tracks colour changes, with every heartbeat visible on a real-time graph.

See instantly see how your heart rate compares to average and store up to five measurements. With built-in heart rate zones, Instant Heart Rate Monitor is a useful tool for exercise.

Spirit Level

Planning some DIY this weekend? Thanks to a built in gyroscope, there are many apps that turn your smartphones into a spirit level.

Some like Spirit Level Plus (free, Android) replicate simple spirit levels, while others like Spirit Level (free iOS) can also display the angle and lock accuracy values. Upgrade to Spirit Level Pro (69p) to measure angles of elevation, slope and incline and align pictures.

Voice Memos

Forgot your mothers birthday card? With the help of your
smartphone quickly send a personal voice message instead. Select Soun Recorder on an Android device or Voice Memo on an Apple phone (each with
a funky old-fashioned microphone interface), tap to record,
say/sing/shout your message and share your recording via email or
message. 

The recipient can then download the file to their smartphone
or computer and you’ll be off the hook!

Track your family

Find My iPhone is a free app that lets you pinpoint the location of your phone should you lose it, but for parents it’s a great way of keeping track of your childs location. Install the app and log onto www.iCloud.com, enter their  Apple ID password (if they’ll give it to you!) and as long as the phone is turned on, you’ll see the location on a map.

Android users can use Life360 Family Locator (free Android, iOS) to locate family members,  receive alerts when they reach destinations and even send messages.

Speed Cameras

Expensive speed camera fines are a source of frustration for motorists, TomTom Speed Cameras (currently free if you subscribe via the app) and Trapster (Android and iOS) warn you of forthcoming speed cameras to help you avoid fines and drive more safely. 

TomTom Speed Cameras also warns of red lights, average speed checks and mobile hotspots.

Watch live TV

TVCatchup (free, Android and iOS) lets you watch live Freeview television on your smartphone, it’s totally free and although there’s no record function, you can pause it.

Streaming video uses a lot of data so make sure you’re connected to a WiFi hotspot and activate ‘Use WiFi Only’ to avoid

New Merc S-Class coming this May

The next generation Mercedes-Benz S-class will be revealed in Hamburg on 15 May, Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche has revealed.

"The S-class is the most important car of all to us," said Zetsche. "Its success makes us stronger going forward."

 

Extra importance has been placed on the S-class following the failure of Maybach. Zetsche said that Mercedes would "broaden the portfolio of the S-class" to make more luxurious versions aimed at the Rolls-Royce Ghost.

 

Zetsche believes that the S-class should have more success in the super-luxury market than the Maybach as it is a brand with "a stronger foundation".

 

"We can sell more cars at better prices with the S-class," he said. "Pushing the S-class upmarket will also further strengthen and balance the Mercedes brand at the top end just as we are going smaller with the A-class range of cars."

 

He also confirmed the next generation C-class would be revealed next year. The new model, along with the recently revised E-class, are crucial for Mercedes in China if it is to close the gap on Audi and BMW, according to Zetsche.

 

The new C-class and S-class are new Mercedes not included in Mercedes' plan to launch 13 new models without a predecessor by 2020, but three of the five models - CLA, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA SUV - to be spun off the A-class platform were.

Facebook hit with fresh IPO-related lawsuit

A Facebook Inc shareholder has sued the social networking company's Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and others over its troubled IPO, potentially reviving legal claims that a different court dismissed in February.

The lawsuit by Gaye Jones alleges that the company's directors and officers knew that Facebook did not disclose weaker revenue trends as more users accessed the website through mobile devices. The complaint alleges that information had been selectively shared with the company's IPO underwriters and key investors.

Unlike similar lawsuits that were dismissed last month partly because the shareholders did not own the stock when the alleged misconduct took place prior to Facebook's May IPO, Jones has owned Facebook stock since February 2012.

The lawsuit seeks to force the directors and other defendants to disgorge the money they made from selling stock through the IPO which they allegedly knew was overpriced.

"The defendants were unjustly enriched because they realized enormous profits and financial benefits from the IPO, despite knowing that reduced revenue and earnings forecasts for the company had not been publicly disclosed to investors," said the complaint.

Facebook said in a statement that "we believe this lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously."

Shares in Facebook's highly anticipated IPO fell from the initial price of $38 to about $25 within a month. The stock closed on Monday at $27.72 on Nasdaq, down 6 cents.

Soon after the IPO, which was also marked by technical glitches on the Nasdaq exchange, more than 50 investor lawsuits were filed. A proposed class action is being heard in federal court in Manhattan.

Jones' lawsuit is a derivative case, meaning the investor seeks to step into the shoes of the company and any money recovered from Zuckerberg and others through a settlement or judgment would be paid to Facebook, not shareholders.

Four previous and very similar derivative cases were dismissed last month by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan.

In addition to noting that shareholders did not own stock prior to the IPO, Sweet said that although plaintiffs had claimed that Facebook hid facts from investors, the company had "repeatedly made express and extensive" warnings about the increased use of mobile applications.

The lawsuit was filed in the Court of Chancery in Delaware, where Facebook is incorporated, and also named as defendants the IPO underwriters - units of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Yahoo to shut down seven products, including Blackberry app

Yahoo Inc is shutting down seven products, including its mobile app for Blackberry smartphones, as new Chief Executive Marissa Mayer takes a page from Google Inc's play book by eliminating unsuccessful products en-masse.

The product shutdowns, which Yahoo announced on its official company blog on Friday, are part of what the company said are regular efforts to evaluate and review its product line-up.

"The most critical question we ask is whether the experience is truly a daily habit that still resonates for all of you today," wrote Jay Rossiter, Yahoo's executive vice president of Platforms.

The announcement represents Yahoo's second group shutdown of products since Mayer, a former Google executive, became CEO of the struggling Web portal in July. So-called "spring cleaning" announcements, in which multiple products are shut down, have become a regular feature at Google in recent years.

Mayer signaled the company would prune its line-up of mobile apps at an investor conference last month, noting that Yahoo would reduce the 60 to 75 disparate mobile apps it currently has to a more manageable 12 to 15 apps.

Yahoo said its app for Blackberry smartphones would no longer be available for download, or supported by Yahoo, as of April 1.

Yahoo also said that on April 1 it will stop supporting Yahoo Avatars - the cartoon-like digital characters that consumers create to depict them on Web services such as Yahoo instant messenger and Facebook. Consumers who want to continue using their avatar on Yahoo's online services must download the avatar and then re-upload the information to their personalized Yahoo profile.

The other Yahoo products set to be terminated include Yahoo App Search, Yahoo Sports IQ, Yahoo Clues, the Yahoo Message Boards website and the Yahoo Updates API.

No word from Microsoft on Office for iPad

A top Microsoft Corp executive side-stepped questions on Tuesday about any plans the software maker may have to bring its Office suite of applications to Apple Inc's iPad.

Talk has circulated for more than a year that Microsoft wants to bring native versions of its most profitable product to the hot-selling iPad, which one analyst estimates could generate $2.5 billion in extra revenue for Microsoft per year, but would remove an incentive to buying Windows-based tablets.

"We don't take it from the point of view, 'Do we need to have the PC software that's running on every single device?', we look very much at 'What is the experience that we are looking to have on those devices'," said Kurt DelBene, head of Microsoft's Office unit, asked about Office on the iPad at the Morgan Stanley technology investor conference in San Francisco, which was Webcast.

DelBene, who took over leadership of Office from Stephen Elop who left to lead phone maker Nokia in 2010, did not directly address putting native versions of Office applications on the iPad, a subject Microsoft has steered clear of in public.

Asked specifically about the availability of Office on Apple's iOS mobile system - which powers iPads and iPhones - DelBene instead stressed online versions of Office apps, which can be accessed via a browser but do not offer the full richness of installed software or an app.

"We've actually done a lot of work on iOS devices this time around," said DelBene. "We have enhanced the web applications pretty substantially, in partnership with Apple."

Microsoft does offer native iOS versions of some Office applications, including its OneNote note-sharing software, Lync communication suite and SharePoint collaboration site, as well as its SkyDrive online storage service.

But the more than 100 million iPad owners, many of whom want to bring their devices to work, have to use the limited online versions of desktop staples Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt estimated earlier this month that Microsoft could generate $2.5 billion in extra annual revenue from Office on iPad by next year, less the commission Apple would take on sales of Office through its App Store.

But the risk for Microsoft is that putting Office on the iPad takes away one of the key advantages of its own Surface and other Windows tablets, that already run Office natively.

Removing incentives to buy Windows tablets would be a blow to Microsoft's flagship Windows unit, which although less profitable than Office, is still key to the company's overall strategy.

Asked by one investor at the conference when he would be able to use Excel on his iPad, DelBene instead pointed the questioner toward Microsoft's own Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets and urged him to use Web-based versions of Office apps.

Sony's Xperia Z smartphone off to a good start

Sales of Sony Corp's Xperia Z high-end smartphone have got off to a good start since its launch in several leading European markets on Monday, said Sony Mobile's Calum MacDougall, head of Xperia marketing.

"We have seen really good pre-orders", McDougall said in an interview at the Mobile World Congress. "We had the first stocks available in Germany in Berlin at the Sony store and sold those out in two hours.

"In France, we sold more in one day in our online store than we sold in 12 weeks in mobile devices."

The Xperia smartphone, which went on sale in Japan last month and is now available in 60 countries, sells for 649 euros and is part of the Japanese electronics group's push for a greater market presence in mobile devices.

Sony has identified mobile devices, which also include Xperia tablets, as part of its efforts to overcoming problems in its television unit that contributed to a record group loss in its last fiscal year.

"It (the Xperia smartphone) sold over 150,000 units in its first week in Japan, taking a 24 percent market share straight away." McDougall said. "It may be a bit too early to say but the first signs a very positive."

Yet the phone faces stiff competition from already-established devices from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd . Sony's share of mobile phone sales in the fourth quarter was 1.7 percent, compared with Samsung's 22.7 percent and Apple 9.2 percent, according to consultancy Gartner.

Also in Barcelona, Sony presented the Xperia Z tablet, billed as dust and water resistant. Only 6.9 millimetre thin and weighing 495 grammes, the Tablet Z has a 10.1 inch high-definition screen and will go on sale this spring.

The tablet aims to be a direct challenge to Apple, which has dominated the high-end tablet market, although smaller and cheaper Android-based tablets have also won market share.

"Many have tried and failed to compete with the iPad in the premium 10 inch tablet space and, at first glance, it is difficult to see how Sony expects to achieve this," said David McQueen, Informa telecoms & media analyst.

With its Xperia line Sony hopes to bank on a multi-device strategy, adding its media content such as movies and music, as well as its PlayStation gaming Service. Both devices run on Google Inc'sAndroid operating system, but that doesn't mean it will be Sony's only bet.

Sony Mobile also agreed on Monday to work with Telefonica on developing smartphones aimed at emerging markets powered by the Mozilla Firefox operating system.