ScienceDaily: Computers & Math News

Electronics you can wrap around your finger Posted: 10 Feb 2015 10:01 AM PST A new multiferroric film keeps its electric and magnetic properties even when highly curved, paving the way for potential uses in wearable devices.

Smartphone apps just as accurate as wearable devices for tracking physical activity Posted: 10 Feb 2015 10:01 AM PST Although wearable devices have received significant attention for their ability to track an individual’s physical activity, most smartphone applications are just as accurate, according to new research. The study tested 10 of the top-selling smartphone apps and devices in the United States by having 14 participants walk on a treadmill for 500 and 1,500 steps, each twice (for a total of 56 trials), and then recording their step counts.

Security gaps found in 39,890 online databases containing customer data Posted: 10 Feb 2015 05:38 AM PST Anyone could call up or modify several million pieces of customer data online including names, addresses and e-mails. Three students were able to show this for 40,000 online databases in both Germany and France. The cause is a misconfigured open source database upon which millions of online stores and platforms from all over the world base their services. If the operators blindly stick to the defaults in the installation process and do not consider crucial details, the data is available online, completely unprotected.

Bringing texture to your flat touchscreen with virtual bumps Posted: 09 Feb 2015 01:14 PM PST What if the touchscreen of your smartphone or tablet could touch you back? Researchers now report a discovery that provides insight into how the brain makes sense of data from fingers. When people draw their fingers over a flat surface with two 'virtual bumps,' the researchers found that, under certain circumstances, the subjects feel only one bump when there really are two. And the researchers can explain why the brain comes to this conclusion.