Tech news was heavy this week. Uber is facing a sexual harassment claim as well as a lawsuit from Google, NASA discovered planets with what could prove to be Earthlike conditions, and more information was revealed about Apple’s new Apple Park campus. These are the top stories of the week.

• Last week, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler accused the company of sexual harassment and human resources negligence in a blog post. In response, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has tapped former US Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran, partners at law firm Covington & Burling, to independently investigate the accusation. Uber board member Arianna Huffington also came on to take part in the review. Other female engineers at Uber have responded to Kalanick’s addressing of the situation by noting that Uber as a company has a systemic problem with sexism embedded into its culture. Let’s be real though, Uber isn’t the only tech company that mishandles sexual harassment claims. This is a larger issue within the tech community.    

• NASA discovered seven Earthlike planets outside of our solar system about 40 light-years away. These new planets all inhabit another solar system and orbit a star called TRAPPIST-1. So far, we know that the planets have a warm climate and rocky terrain, promising signs for water and therefore life.
• In addition to a sexual harassment claim, Uber is facing a lawsuit from Waymo, the Google-owned self-driving tech company. Waymo has filed suit against the Uber-owned self-driving trucking company Otto, on the accusation that Uber “misappropriated” trade secrets, and infringed upon its patents.

• Apple’s new campus now has a name and an opening date. 
  
  Apple Park will open in Cupertino in April of this year and provide work space for 12,000 Apple employees. In addition to the new office space, Apple Park is also going to have a big theater with a thousand seats called the Steve Jobs Theater.
•  Getting hacked is costly. After the disclosure of two massive data breaches, Yahoo and Verizon finally confirmed new terms for the sale of Yahoo to Verizon. Verizon will pay $350 million less than originally planned, knocking the price down to $4.48 billion to acquire Yahoo.

•  After a first failed attempt due to a GPS error, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station. The supply ship is filled with 5,500 pounds of supplies and materials for the crew of the ISS.
• Content delivery network Cloud flare revealed a serious bug in its software that caused sensitive data like passwords, cookies, authentication tokens to spill in plaintext from its customers’ websites. The announcement is a major blow for the company, which offers enhanced security and performance for more than 5 million sites. The leak could have allowed anyone to collect a variety of typically encrypted personal information.

•  Facebook is closing in on Snapchat from all sides. Facebook-owned WhatsApp launched Status, an encrypted Snapchat Stories clone. The new tab lets you share decorated photos, videos and GIFs that disappear after 24 hours

•  Snap wants to prove to investors pre-IPO that Spectacles were more than a branding stunt and could actually make money for the newly proclaimed camera company. Snap began selling its video-recording Spectacles sunglasses online for $130 in the U.S. at Spectacles.com. Prior to the online launch, you could only get Spectacles from pop-up Snapbot vending machine dispensers and its NYC store.

• Airbnb finalized the deal to buy social payments startup Tilt. Airbnb, which has a valuation of $30 billion, has been on a sort of buying spree as of late. 
•  Last month, Atlassian bought Trello for $424 million — the company’s biggest acquisition yet. Now, more details have emerged, and it looks like the whole acquisition went pretty smoothly.

• Mark Zuckerberg released a 5,000 word product road map for Facebook last week, in which he outlined the company’s humanitarian efforts. Another chunk of the piece was an ask to users to define content guidelines for what they feel is offensive or not. However the question may be whether or not any additional data Facebook gathers from users with a ‘content threshold setting’ will become another way for Facebook to receive more data to help it target ads.
•        Instagram wants you to share more photos in your feed. Instagram launched the ability to share a mix of up to 10 photos or videos as a single carousel post that friends can swipe through, kind of like an Instagram album.

Communicating via internet started in 90’s by Hotmail (MSN) and Yahoo emails, and then Messengers hit market.  It further moved to chatrooms where people were able to chat globally with anyone that was a huge hit of the time. The uptake was so huge that text messaging was then further advanced into voice and video chat options making this experience more personal and real for virtual connections.

During first decade, about 200 cellular phone companies entered the market and introduced SMS (short messaging service)/ text feature allowing their clients to send SMS to any mobile number and chat with them. They used GSM network to offer SMS service that worked offline, hence, a bit slow but at the same time gave freedom to users to send SMS to anyone at any time from their mobile phones. In the same era, many other offline and online messengers entered into the market such as Blackberry Messenger. 

The trend continued with the launch of smartphones including both Android and iOS platforms. With these smartphones came in a small just-to-text messaging app ‘WhatsApp’  That revolutionized the whole messaging experience globally beating any competitor that comes on its way.

WhatsApp Messenger is a FREE messaging app available for Android and other smartphones. WhatsApp uses your phone's Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi-Fi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family.

Furthermore, you can use WhatsApp not only on smartphones with internet, but also with simple phones it offline. It also works on the web for users who are comfortable with computers.

The major reason behind success of WhatsApp is its simplicity and responsiveness. The app can be installed in minutes with the option to setup a username and pin. I you do not wish to setup one, it allows you to go directly and start messaging. It allow you to SAY NO TO USERNAMES AND PINS: Why bother having to remember yet another username or PIN? WhatsApp works with your phone number, just like SMS, and integrates seamlessly with your phone's existing address book.

No need to login and logout as it is ALWAYS LOGGED IN: With WhatsApp, you're always logged in so you don't miss messages. No more confusion about whether you're logged in or logged out. 

AND MUCH MORE: Share your location, Exchange contacts, Set custom wallpapers and Notification sounds, Email chat history, Broadcast messages to Multiple contacts at once.

Business communication

WhatsApp is no more just a messaging; it is now shaped into a communication platform being used in various domains such Business communication, Project planning, Team management and task distribution, Client services and Support. Also, it can also be used in Healthcare Management, and Education.

Nowadays, people prefer WhatsApp over emails because it fast and instant. Previously, there were issues to sync information with all stakeholders and get them on the same page. This issue is resolved now, we can get rid of emails and cc and bcc issues using WhatsApp instead for instant information sharing and documentation too.

I am involved in multiple projects at my job, so each project has a WhatsApp group where use it for updating team, follow up and task distribution.

Since it allows sharing document such as .ppt and .pdf, we can share files with team for review and discuss on that. We can ask questions on many task and topics, and discuss.  

We are using its picture sharing feature for meeting minutes and documents, during meetings we just snap the pic and share with team on group right away, since it is End to End Encrypted, we don’t hesitate to share documents and images. Even we can record audio or video of complete meetings and share with the team. 

Basically now WhatsApp is used for solving Problems, accomplishing Tasks, and improving Teamwork.

Technology has affected humankind dramatically especially in last five decades. It has touched almost every facet of our lives making it better, efficient and convenient. The impact of technology in healthcare, education and corporate sector is revolutionary. 

The influence of new techniques and methodologies to ordinary tasks was not sudden, in fact it took a roadway of continuous efforts and innovation to view it as a necessity rather than a luxury.

A wheel was invented thousand years ago on INDUS RIVER, but interestingly, now airplane and spaceships are designed based on that very idea. Similarly, the concept of radio frequency was introduced hundreds of years ago that over the years gave us smart phone, smart watches, magnetic chip that are now considered staple for everyday life. When Radio was invented, the idea was to utilize it for communication and now thousands of TV channels and smart TV are introduced that are expanded on the idea of radio. Abacus was designed to aid in calculations that later became the foundation to build computers, laptops and cloud computing. 

Talking about healthcare, Stethoscope is considered the foremost instrument used by doctors and it was introduced 200 years ago for hearing heart and lungs sounds of patients for better diagnosis. It is worthy to notice that even though stethoscope remains the most important instrument used by doctors everywhere, not much innovation is seen in its functionality. 

eSteth - Smart Stethoscope 

Recently, I came across an organization Tech4Life Enterprises, and was glad to see someone working towards reinventing Stethoscope. They changing it from ordinary stethoscope to Smart Stethoscope. The stethoscope that the Company has deigned not only provides basic functionality of an ordinary stethoscope where physicians & nurses can hear high quality heart and lungs sounds , but they can also record, store , share and live transfer/stream, heart and lungs sounds through any communication software like Skype, WhatsApp or emails.  Not only that, it comes with a dedicated app that can work on both Android and iOS to enable live streaming, and share heart and lungs sounds either via connecting to your computer/laptop or mobile devices, or wireless (Bluetooth) connectivity. Tech4Life Enterprises call this innovation as eSteth. 

eSteth comes in 2 versions:  eSteth Lite and eSteth Pro. eSteth Lite is the affordable model designed to support care providers in primary care and hospital settings, while eSteth Pro is designed to work in professional healthcare settings to improve sound quality for diagnosis.  

Basically, eSteth is definitely game changer as it is giving freedom to healthcare providers to use it as traditional stethoscope for face-t-face consultation, or they can use it for Telemedicine to carry out  Live or store-and-forward consultation allowing users to record, store and share heart and lungs sounds with other providers for second opinion. 

The most noteworthy thing that I found with eSteth’s design is that it looks exactly as a traditional stethoscope with the option to use it wired or wirelessly through Bluetooth connectivity. The same design will certainly makes it more adaptive to be used by health providers. Also, it comes with an audio jack that can connect eSteth to mobile device or computer for transfer and sharing of sounds.

Features	eSteth Lite	eSteth Pro
High Quality Digital sounds	Yes	Yes
100x amplification	Yes	Yes
Long lasting battery	Yes	Yes
Best of remote consultation	Yes	Yes
Noise filtration	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth enabled	No	Yes
Display heart rate and rhythm	NO	Yes
Built-in Memory for sound recording	NO	Yes

eSteth Application 

The mobile application of eSteth allows health providers to connect to eSteth with the smartphone via Bluetooth or audio jack. The application allows management of heart sounds, view heart rhythm, record consultation, and also share sounds with other health providers for second opinion.

Mobile application can also be used both on patient site for referring the sounds, and specialist site for reviewing them. It appeared that Tech4Life Enterprises believes in user friendliness of the app; eSteth app is design in  a way that as soon as app starts it asks users to pair eSteth either through wire or wirelessly making it a very easy to understand process.

Once eSteth is paired, the app take you to the screen with human body where heart and lungs place their stethoscope on the patient’s body at the same positons defined on the app, and press record button. Once recorded, you can share o it with other people using the app and create a chatting thread for further comments and discussion among health providers reviewing a particular case.

BY 

Dodo Khan

I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.
In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success.
However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer…

Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…
Should be something that is more important:
Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days …
Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.
The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me.
What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love.

That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.
Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
What is the most expensive bed in the world? – “Sick bed” …

You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – “Life”.
When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – “Book of Healthy Life”.
Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends…
Treat yourself well. Cherish others. SOURCE :speakingtree

We have heard of Smart Home System, where we can control our house appliances from remote locations on our mobile phone or applications.  The smart home system gives us control of all electronic appliances.

it gives us control of our house doors, air conditioner, CCTV camera from a remote location on our mobile phone and we can enjoy smart TV But this is new generation plugin to smart home system which you have not heard before Smart Shower. 

When you are running late and you can’t wait to warm up your shower. Next thing you know you're drenched in cold water.

"U" by Moen introduced smart shower system that lets you start your shower from an app, it allows you to set presets for your perfect temperature, and even set time limits on your shower.It is next-generation Wi-Fi/cloud-based digital shower offers mobile connectivity and unmatched personalization, providing homeowners countless ways to create their ideal showering experience with the push of a button.

For more information http://www.moen.com/u

Snapchat is a fun messaging app. You can capture a photo or brief video with it, then add a caption or doodle or filter/lens over top, and send the finished creation (called a snap) to a friend.

Snapchat gives direction for modern of social network, and it revolutionize social network to more private and secure. Recently we saw snapchat introduced many new features such as Groups and Filter Games to get more and more active users to compete with Instagram but snapchat always faced one issue to get new followers.

Today Snapchat introduced new feature universal search finally gives you a way to find new followers — or get them find you.

Snapchat always face criticism from users on the difficulty to get new follower because it was not so easy/user friendly.

Snapchat users had to get followers by sharing their username or Snapcode outside the snapchat e.g. Share on Facebook and twitter and friends and family catch you from there. Users can get their snapcode from app or login with their username and password on www.snapchat.com

The universal search is an all new search bar at the top of the screen that makes finding friends, Discover publishers and Our Stories easier and more accessible throughout the app.